According to sources, Elon Musk told Twitter employees that remote work will end and that “tough times” lay ahead.
The proprietor of the social media company informed staff through email that employees can plan to spend at least 40 hours each week at the workplace.
There was “no way to sugar coat the truth,” Mr. Musk continued, that the weakening global economy will affect Twitter’s ad sales.
As a result of the effectiveness of its remote working policies during Covid lockdowns, the San Francisco-based corporation informed its workforce in May 2020 that they could work from home “forever” if they so desired.
However, Mr. Musk has publicly expressed his disapproval of remote employment, writing earlier this year on the website he now controls that “all the Covid stay-at-home stuff has fooled people into thinking that you don’t actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!”
Working remotely was no longer acceptable, Mr. Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, informed Tesla employees in June.
The businessman declared that, similar to Tesla, he would only personally grant exemptions to Twitter employees who want to work remotely.
A week after acquiring Twitter in a $44 billion (£38.7 billion) deal, the richest man in the world has already announced that half of the company’s workforce will be laid off.
Due to the company’s daily loss of $4 million (£3.51 million), Mr. Musk claimed he had “no choice” but to make the changes. He has attributed a “huge loss in revenue” to “activist groups lobbying advertising.”
The savings and Mr. Musk’s ardent support for free expression have raised concerns that Twitter’s content control efforts may be weakened.
I just killed it
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 9, 2022
The platform’s approach to dangerous material, according to Mr. Musk, is “completely unaltered.”
Numerous top Twitter execs announced their resignations on Thursday. Lea Kissner, chief information security officer, said they had made the “painful decision” to quit the business.
Damien Kieran, the chief privacy officer, and Marianne Fogarty, the chief compliance officer, both left their positions, according to the technology news website The Verge.
The social media site will soon offer users the option to purchase blue-tick verified status for $8 per month as part of Mr. Musk’s shake-up.
Mr. Musk stated in an email to staff that he wanted subscriptions to make up half of all Twitter revenue.
However, the policy change is debatable due to worries that the platform might become inundated with fake accounts.
The verification badge was previously only awarded to well-known or well-known accounts that Twitter had examined and determined to be authentic.
“Now the blue checkmark may mean two different things: either that an account was verified under the previous verification criteria (active, notable, and authentic), or that the account has an active subscription to Twitter Blue,” Twitter said.
“Accounts that receive the blue checkmark as part of a Twitter Blue subscription will not undergo review to confirm that they meet the active, notable and authentic criteria that was used in the previous process.”
Along with the UK, users of Apple iOS in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can now access the new system.
