USA Today is reporting that new Twitter owner Elon Musk ended the company’s remote-work policy and warned staff to prepare for “difficult times ahead,”.
In an email sent to staff late Wednesday, the billionaire said workers would be expected to be in the office for at least 40 hours per week starting Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Musk added there was “no way to sugarcoat the message” that a sluggish U.S. economy would impact Twitter’s advertising revenue, which has already taken a hit as brands have paused ads on the platform.
“The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed,” Musk said in the email, according to AP, Bloomberg, The Verge and the Guardian.
Back in May 2020, Twitter’s previous CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey announced staff could work remotely indefinitely as the coronavirus spread across the country. Now, Musk will only approve remote work on a case-by-case basis.
Musk has been vocal about his position regarding remote work.
Hetweeted this year that “all the Covid stay-at-home stuff has tricked people into thinking that you don’t actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!”
In June, Musk, who is also chief at Tesla and Space X, reportedly demanded employees at both companies return to the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week.
Elon is trending on Twitter, as people muddle through the chaos.
1/ Just want to put this news in plain language for people.
Senior people at Twitter have resigned in the last 48 hours. We now now why. They said in private Slack channels that @elonmusk is so desperate to recoup his money, he’s taking crazy risks with YOUR privacy and safety.
— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) November 10, 2022
and
2/ Right now, Twitter is extremely hackable. That puts every user here at extreme risk for DM leaks, identity theft and surveillance.
Elon doesn’t care. He wants his money. So they resigned. And top lawyers told Twitter employees to get whistleblower protections.
— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) November 10, 2022
and
Everything that @elonmusk has done publicly so far to Twitter seems like exactly what I’d do if I wanted to ensure the entire platform ran straight into the ground, and fast. His actions and words make it really hard to see how this isn’t actually his plan.
— briankrebs (@briankrebs) November 10, 2022
and
“I’m gonna be blunt here: Elon Musk is running Twitter into the ground…and it’s the best Twitter’s ever been.” @trevornoah pic.twitter.com/COQ3V0q06b
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 11, 2022
and
the person who Elon Musk kept retweeting whenever he wanted to prove to everyone that things were actually fine just resigned
the person who hosted the Twitter Space with Elon Musk yesterday to tell advertisers that things were actually fine just resigned https://t.co/txvQEwMZwC
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) November 10, 2022
and
To review, @elonmusk’s last 24 hrs @Twitter:
– Chiefs of Info Sec, Privacy, and Compliance quit
– Head of Legal warns employees to call out sick and use whistleblower service to avoid breaking the law
– Warns Musk only cares about monetizing users
– On brink of bankruptcy— Max Berger (@maxberger) November 10, 2022
Lord!
Comment below!
