Twitter Employees Get an Ultimatum From Elon Musk

They have until 5pm Thursday to decide if they're ready to be 'hardcore'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 16, 2022 7:52 AM CST
Twitter Employees Get an Ultimatum From Elon Musk
Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition on March 9, 2020, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Those who remain employed by Twitter were given an ultimatum on Wednesday morning by Elon Musk, and they reportedly have until 5pm ET Thursday to make up their minds. The Washington Post reports staffers were sent an email from Musk that contained a link to an online form. The email advised them that the company "will need to be extremely hardcore" from here on out in order to "to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world. This will mean working long hours at high intensity," and "only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade."

The choice given was binary: Click yes on the link to go to the online form and sign the pledge—or exit the company with three months' severance pay. The Guardian reports that Musk also made clear that Twitter would be "much more engineering-driven" as a company. "Design and product management will still be very important and report to me, but those writing great code will constitute the greatest majority of our team and have the greatest sway," the Financial Times quotes the email as reading. "Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful," Musk wrote.

About half of Twitter's 7,500 employees were fired on Nov. 4; the Verge reports Musk has also fired up to 5,500 contract workers as well and has allegedly been firing employees who take to Twitter or the company's internal Slack channel to criticize him. (More Twitter stories.)

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