According to The Verge, hundreds of Twitter employees resigned today rather than opting in to be a part of “Twitter 2.0” under Elon Musk. Musk told employees earlier this week that Twitter will be “extremely hardcore” in the future, with employees expected to work long hours at high intensity.
Musk sent out a Google form to employees on Wednesday, asking them to respond “Yes” by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday if they wanted to stay at the company. Hundreds of people decided not to, instead saying their goodbyes in Slack and on Twitter.
Musk fired roughly half of the company’s 7,500 employees when he took over, and he has continued to fire employees who have been critical of him, including longtime engineers, since then.
Twitter employees who spoke to The Verge said that given the number of people who have left, the company could “break soon” and that recovery will be “extremely difficult.” Twitter temporarily closed all office buildings and suspended badge access due to employee exodus. Musk and his team are “terrified employees will sabotage the company,” according to Zo Schiffer.
Musk reportedly attempted to persuade employees to stay in the final hours before the deadline. He had previously stated that all employees were required to work 40 hours per week in the office, but today he stated that working from home was permitted with monthly in-person meetings and managerial approval. Musk’s first initiative is currently on hold while Twitter undergoes changes.
Last week, Twitter launched a more expensive $8 version of Twitter Blue that included a verification badge, and it soon became clear that launching widespread verification resulted in account impersonation, affecting a number of businesses.
