Elon Musk gave Twitter employees an ultimatum in a late-night email: either commit to a “hardcore” culture on Twitter or leave with severance pay. The Washington Post reports that Musk has asked Twitter employees to sign an online form at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday committing to “working long, high-intensity hours.” If Twitter employees refuse to sign the form, they will reportedly receive three months’ severance pay.
Former Uber engineer Gergely Orosz, who reported on Twitter’s internal changes this week, says Musk’s email outlines a “Twitter 2.0” that will be driven by engineers, with “those who write great code” playing a more important role. role within the company.
The email arrived barely a week after Musk’s first meeting with Twitter employees and two weeks after he ordered mass layoffs — cutting about half of Twitter’s global workforce. “What works at SpaceX and Tesla is people are in the office and are hardcore,” Musk said during his first meeting with Twitter employees after the cuts.
That language was echoed today in the email to Twitter employees, with Musk demanding that employees “must be extremely hardcore.” Musk has previously asked Tesla employees to “go super hardcore” to achieve goals.
Musk previously urged Twitter employees to launch a new version of Twitter Blue with paid blue check verification with a deadline that would lead to termination if not met. The new Twitter Blue, which now costs $7.99 a month and gives you a blue verified tick, eventually launched and quickly sparked imitation and chaos on the social network.
Update, 5:15 a.m. ET: Article updated with more email details from Gergely Orosz.
Correction, 7 a.m. ET: The ultimatum is for Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, not Wednesday. We regret the mistake.
