• News
  • Sport
  • TV
  • Radio
  • Education
  • TV Licences
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION
Home Business

After Elon Musk’s ultimatum, Twitter employees start exiting

18 November 2022, 3:00 AM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
A view of the Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California, US October 27, 2022.

A view of the Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California, US October 27, 2022.

Image: Reuters

A view of the Twitter logo at its corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California, US October 27, 2022.

Hundreds of Twitter employees are estimated to be leaving the beleaguered social media company following an ultimatum from new owner Elon Musk that staffers sign up for “long hours at high intensity,” or leave.

In a poll on the workplace app Blind, which verifies employees through their work email addresses and allows them to share information anonymously, 42% of 180 people chose the answer for “Taking exit option, I’m free!” A quarter said they had chosen to stay “reluctantly,” and only 7% of the poll participants said they “clicked yes to stay, I’m hardcore.”

Musk was meeting some top employees to try and convince them to stay, said one current employee and a recently departed employee who is in touch with Twitter colleagues.

While it is unclear how many employees have chosen to stay, the numbers highlight the reluctance of some staffers to remain at a company where Musk has hastened to fire half its employees including top management, and is ruthlessly changing the culture to emphasize long hours and an intense pace.

The company notified employees that it will close its offices and cut badge access until Monday, according to two sources.

Security officers have begun kicking employees out of the office on Thursday evening, one source said.

Twitter, which has lost many of its communication team members, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a private chat on Signal with about 50 Twitter staffers, nearly 40 said they had decided to leave, according to the former employee.

And in a private Slack group for Twitter’s current and former employees, about 360 people joined a new channel titled “voluntary-layoff,” said a person with knowledge of the Slack group.

A separate poll on Blind asked staffers to estimate what percentage of people would leave Twitter based on their perception. More than half of respondents estimated at least 50% of employees would leave.

Blue hearts and salute emojis flooded Twitter and its internal chatrooms on Thursday, the second time in two weeks as Twitter employees said their goodbyes.

By 6 pm Eastern, over two dozen Twitter employees across the United States and Europe had announced their departures in public Twitter posts reviewed by Reuters, though each resignation could not be independently verified.

Early on Wednesday, Musk had emailed Twitter employees, saying: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore”.

The email asked staff to click “yes” if they wanted to stick around. Those who did not respond by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday would be considered to have quit and given a severance package, the email said.

As the deadline approached, employees scrambled to figure out what to do.

One team within Twitter decided to take the leap together and leave the company, one employee who is leaving told Reuters.

In an apparent jab at Musk’s call for employees to be “hardcore,” the Twitter profile bios of several departing engineers on Thursday described themselves as “softcore engineers” or “ex-hardcore engineers.”

Share article
Tags: Elon MuskTwitter
Previous Post

Big Pharma may have to reveal government deals in WHO’s draft pandemic rules

Next Post

Jake Gyllenhaal explores family dynamics, new terrains in ‘Strange World’

Related Posts

A 3D printed Google logo is placed on the Apple Macbook in this illustration taken April 12, 2020.

US lawsuit against Google could benefit Apple and others

26 January 2023, 10:06 PM
The commission alleges that Medmart Health and BabyBug, both companies which sell personal protective equipment (PPE), colluded to fix prices on face masks and divided the market by allocating customers in contravention of the Competition Act.

Two competing companies referred to Competition Tribunal for price fixing, collusion

26 January 2023, 9:29 PM
City of Tswane

AG’s report points to billions of irregular expenditure in City of Tshwane

26 January 2023, 8:12 PM
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago

Economists express concerns about SA’s growth projections

26 January 2023, 7:49 PM
[File photo] The TotalEnergies logo sits on the company's headquarter skyscraper in the La Defense business district in Paris, France, March 24, 2022.

French prosecutor investigates greenwashing allegations against TotalEnergies

26 January 2023, 5:17 PM
SABC Television building in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.

SABC labour unions urge President Ramaphosa to expedite appointment of new Board

26 January 2023, 5:01 PM
Next Post
Cast members Gabrielle Union, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jaboukie Young-White attend the premiere of 'Strange World' in London, Britain, November 17, 2022.

Jake Gyllenhaal explores family dynamics, new terrains in 'Strange World'

Most Viewed

  • 24hrs
  • Week
  • Month
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • Remedial programme reinstated to fight Hyacinth plants at Hartbeespoort Dam
  • Northern Cape’s Kakamas to be exempted from blackouts
  • Zuma joins AmaZulu King in commemorating the Battle of Isandlwana
  • Scorcher predicted in Northern Cape for two weeks
  • Parts of the Northern Cape to be exempted from rolling blackouts
  • VIDEO | St Benedict College’s Matric learner gets 11 distinctions
  • Limpopo matriculant from child-headed household attains diploma pass
  • Female circumcision practice thriving in Eastern Cape
  • Babes Wodumo breaks her silence at Mampintsha’s funeral
  • VIDEO | Repo rate increases by 25 basis points to 7.25%
  • AG’s report points to billions of irregular expenditure in City of Tshwane
  • Joburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse voted out of office
  • Phalatse refuses to comment on DA’s sabotage allegations
  • Silent revolution in SA’s education sector: Ramaphosa

LATEST

[File Image] President Cyril Ramaphosa.
  • South Africa

Public Protector’s office finalising preliminary Phala Phala report


Advocate Mojankunyane Gumbi  is currently the Chancellor of the University of Venda
  • World

Venda University VC named UN special adviser on racism in workplace


A 3D printed Google logo is placed on the Apple Macbook in this illustration taken April 12, 2020.
  • Business

US lawsuit against Google could benefit Apple and others


City of Johannesburg Council meeting
  • Politics

Joburg Council to elect new mayor on Friday


The commission alleges that Medmart Health and BabyBug, both companies which sell personal protective equipment (PPE), colluded to fix prices on face masks and divided the market by allocating customers in contravention of the Competition Act.
  • Business

Two competing companies referred to Competition Tribunal for price fixing, collusion


The CSIR works with government and industry to improve cybersecurity in the country
  • Sci-tech

Cyber fraud remains biggest barrier to online shopping


Weather

  • About the SABC
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Site Map

SABC © 2022

No Result
View All Result
  • SOUTH AFRICA
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORT
  • AFRICA
  • WORLD
  • SCI-TECH
  • LIFESTYLE
  • FEATURES
  • OPINION

© 2022

Previous Big Pharma may have to reveal government deals in WHO’s draft pandemic rules
Next Jake Gyllenhaal explores family dynamics, new terrains in ‘Strange World’