Elon Musk issues Twitter staff ultimatum and he’ll fire anyone who doesn’t conform tomorrow
Aisha Nozari
Featured Image Credit: Apex MediaWire / Michael Vi / Alamy
Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover once again made headlines on Wednesday (16 November).
The world’s richest man has given Twitter staff a deadline to commit to a new way of working.
Employees must respond to Musk’s request (more on that later) by tomorrow (17 November) afternoon or part ways with the company.
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According to The Guardian, Musk sent an email to staff asking them to commit to working ‘long hours at high intensity’ while also being ‘extremely hardcore’.
Staff that don’t agree will be made to leave the company with three months’ severance pay.
Musk wrote: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore.
“This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”
In his message, Musk directed staff to a link and told them to click it if they wanted to be ‘part of the new Twitter’ by 5:00pm New York time tomorrow.
Anyone who doesn't click the link will receive the outlined severance pay.
“Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful,” Musk added.
UNILAD has contacted Twitter for comment.
The Tesla CEO also said that under his ownership, Twitter would become ‘much more engineering-driven’.
He added: “Those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team.”
It comes after Musk told Twitter staff that ‘bankruptcy isn’t out of the question’.
Once again writing by email, Musk said: “Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn. We need roughly half of our revenue to be subscription."
In a bid to boost profit, one of the first changes Musk made at Twitter was to introduce a new, paid-for verification scheme, which will cost users wanting a coveted blue tick $7.99 (£6.84) a month.
In a statement, Twitter explained: "We're adding great new features to Twitter Blue, and have more on the way soon. Get Twitter Blue for $7.99/month if you sign up now.
"Blue checkmark: Power to the people. Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow."
The social media platform added: "Since you’re supporting Twitter in the battle against the bots, we’re going to reward you with half the ads and make them twice as relevant."