The chaos at microblogging platform Twitter's offices escalated under its new owner Elon Musk after several employees appeared to have quit following a deadline by the billionaire entrepreneur and the company sent messages it was closing its “office buildings” for the next few days.
Hundreds of Twitter employees have reportedly resigned in response to Musk’s midnight email demanding “extremely hardcore” work culture and “long hours” to build Twitter 2.0.
Twitter also announced through email that it would close “our office buildings” and disable employee badge access until Monday.
This fresh wave of resignations comes days after Musk laid off around 3,700 Twitter employees after taking control of the social media giant in a USD 44 billion deal. At least a few others were then fired for criticising Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” on social media or on the company’s internal Slack channels.
The billionaire sent a late-night email to the remaining staff, informing that he expected “long hours at high intensity” if they wanted to stay. Those who wished to continue at Twitter had a day (5 pm ET on Thursday) to decide, otherwise they would receive three months of severance.
After the deadline hit, hundreds of employees started posting farewell messages on Slack, The Verge reported. Many also announced their decision to leave on the microblogging platform.
A Twitter employee of nearly a decade posted a video which shows him with four other colleagues. The group counted down the seconds to Musk's deadline, saying they had all decided not to be part of the new Twitter.