Elon Musk, the new head of social media platform Twitter, sent an email to employees across the company on Friday (11), thanking them for the long hours since he took over on Oct. 28.
Musk said he also spent Thursday night at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. Musk laid off 50% of Twitter staff last week and greeted the remaining employees in his San Francisco headquarters office with a letter.
After Musk acquired Twitter, the company descended into chaos: in addition to laying off half of its employees, firing top management and dissolving its board of directors, he also said that Twitter was at risk of bankruptcy.
Even the policy of the Twitter platform has been changing day and night: previously the “blue check” was reserved exclusively for verified accounts of politicians, celebrities, journalists and other public figures, but Musk, eager to retain advertisers and increase revenue, has launched an $8 monthly Blue Tick subscription service that allows paying users to get a “verification” number, making fake accounts sprout up like mushrooms after a spring rain. Twitter immediately launched the “gray tick” label for authenticating official accounts, but within hours of its launch, it was quickly canceled by Musk.
Two current Twitter employees say they take calls from colleagues and customers asking about any changes to the platform.
One person said Twitter used to change slowly and cautiously, weighing the three aspects of user habits, security and revenue impact, but Musk’s experimental approach has everyone worried, including advertisers and the Federal Trade. Commission (FTC).
Musk himself tweeted: “Please note Twitter will do a lot of stupid things over the next few months, we’ll keep what works and change what doesn’t.”
Employees want more clarity on the new leave system and back-to-office policy.
Musk previously told all employees that the “work from home forever” policy is over. Some employees want to know if they can still apply to work from home. The company’s HR department has yet to issue formal guidance on remote work rules, two employees said.
In response to this, Musk said in the letter that if employees cannot get to the office under reasonable circumstances and are well behaved, then he can still work remotely. “However, I’m a big believer in teamwork and on-site presence efficiency.”
