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Ariana Baio
Nov 16, 2022
Elon Musk fires engineer over Twitter: 'Bunch of cowards'
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Elon Musk has reportedly given the remaining Twitter employees an ultimatum - go hard or go home.
Already employees have been working long hours to accommodate the various changes Musk has ordered. But now, they're being faced with the difficult decision to stay or go under the expectation that more work is ahead.
According to reports, Musk sent an email to employees that going forward Twitter “will need to be extremely hardcore" which "will mean working long hours at high intensity."
Attached to the email was a link for employees to either agree to Musk's standards or decline and receive three months' severance.
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The new approach, dubbed "Twitter 2.0" comes after Musk laid off nearly half of Twitter's staff and enacted a new policy mandating return-to-office.
\u201cScoop: Elon Musk just sent an email to all staff outlining "Twitter 2.0", writing it will"need to be extremely hardcore". Long hours, high intensity. \n\nPeople need to click "yes" to confirm being part of this by 5pm ET tomorrow, else they get 3 months severance. More details:\u201d— Gergely Orosz (@Gergely Orosz) 1668588370
The email, sent at midnight, gave employees until 5 pm EST to make a decision. Those who did not were immediately given three months' severance.
On Twitter, "Twitter 2.0" trended with people commenting on the intense expectation Musk has set.
\u201cSo, did anyone else read that as "Twitter 2.0 is going to be written solely by engineers who aren't good enough to get a job at a company that doesn't expect moronic working hours & shitty work/life balance"?\n\nOr was it just me?\u201d— djh (@djh) 1668599725
\u201cI don\u2019t get all the hate for the Twitter 2.0 email, I\u2019ve always done my best when working 80 hours a week for a man child who has no clear goals and screams \u201cMORE HARDCORE\u201d whenever a clarifying question is asked. That\u2019s when I really thrive.\u201d— James Graham (@James Graham) 1668602248
Of the changes Musk has enacted, one of which has already faced a U-turn: Twitter Blue.
The subscription-based verification system allowed users to have priority in their tweets and replies but came with grave consequences as people began impersonating companies and celebrities.
"Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months," Musk told followers.
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