Mass exodus chaos: Twitter locks buildings, workers set to quit after Musk ultimatum

Publish Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2022, 4:27PM

Hundreds of furious Twitter employees are expected to resign in the wake of a savage email from new boss Elon Musk demanding they put in longer and more intense hours.

The ABC reports that a poll on the workplace app Blind revealed that 42 per cent of workers surveyed were now planning to quit, while almost 40 employees indicated plans to leave on a private chat on Signal, and about 360 people had joined a new Slack channel for Twitter workers titled “voluntary-lay-off”.

Dozens of workers from across the globe have also taken to the Twitter platform to announce their resignation.

The drastic backlash followed an email sent by Musk to workers on Wednesday, which stated: “Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore.”

Workers were told to click “yes” if they planned to stay, and those that failed to respond by close of business were considered by management to have resigned, and would be offered a severance package.

The ABC also reports that Twitter informed employees it would shut its offices and cut badge access until Monday.

However, despite the controversial ultimatum, Musk did backflip on his ban on working from home in a second email sent on Thursday, after more workers than expected chose to walk away.

Workers allegedly fired ‘illegally’

It comes as eight former SpaceX workers are coming after Musk, claiming they were “illegally” fired for publicly criticising the billionaire and the company’s work culture.

The group said they were sacked in June after organising an open letter – which was then signed by more than 400 workers – in which they condemned the SpaceX CEO’s online behaviour.

In the open letter, they also urged the company to beef-up its “zero-tolerance policies” after sexual harassment allegations emerged against the CEO. Musk denied the allegations.

“Elon’s behaviour in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks,” the letter said, claiming the company was failing to adhere to its own policies and urging SpaceX to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behaviour”, which included “inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments”.

The employees claim the letter was later branded an “extremist act” by a SpaceX executive before they were let go, which the employees allege was in retaliation.

They have since filed unfair labour practice charges with the US National Labour Relations Board, according to the New York Times.

Under US law, firms cannot take action against staff who participate in collective action regarding work conditions, whether as part of a union or not.

So far, neither SpaceX nor Musk have responded to the recent escalation.

However, it comes amid Musk’s aggressive firing spree at Twitter since taking over the social media platform in late October for US$44 billion ($71b).

In 2018, Musk talked to the news media with the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket behind him in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Eight former SpaceX workers have filed unfair labour practice charges against the company. Photo / the New York Times

After taking over the platform, Musk immediately fired Twitter’s chief executive Parag Agrawal and chief financial officer Ned Segal, as well as head of legal policy, trust and safety Vijaya Gadde, who was the person behind the decision to permanently ban former US President Donald Trump from the platform in the wake of the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Since then, a slew of other senior managers have also been stood down or resigned, with the New York Times reporting that managers were ordered to prepare lists of high and low-performing team members.

In fact, about half of the workforce has been sacked in recent weeks in an apparent bid to cut costs, with Musk also making headlines this week after delivering a harsh ultimatum to remaining staff, demanding in an email that they go “hardcore” and revel in working long hours, or leave the tech firm.

If staff don’t agree to the onerous new conditions within 48 hours, the company will assume they want to depart and will start redundancy proceedings, with the demands sparking widespread condemnation.

Musk’s Twitter takeover has been a chaotic one, with users and advertisers fleeing the platform in droves in recent weeks, leading many to brand the unfolding situation as the “perfect storm” of conditions which could seriously curtail Twitter’s future, which was already in doubt given it hasn’t turned a profit since 2017, with Musk himself warning it could soon go bankrupt.

And it all adds up to a far less appealing platform for everyday users as well, leading The Verge’s Elizabeth Lopatto to warn of a potential “death spiral” ahead.

-news.co.au