Twitter locks out employees until Monday
The offices were closed and the electronic access cards deactivated. Some now fear that Twitter no longer has enough professionals "to keep the site running."
Elon Musk's ultimatum to the remaining Twitter employees expired on Thursday at 5 p.m. EST. They should declare their willingness to work a lot of overtime at high work intensity or leave the company and receive three months' salary as severance pay. Musk explained in the corresponding email that Twitter must be "extremely hardcore" in the future.
On Friday it was initially unclear what the consequences would be for Twitter and Musk. US media reported that "hundreds" refused to stay with the company under such conditions. A Fortune reporter even estimated that up to 75 percent of employees wanted to quit. However, she could not prove the number.
The first reports that Twitter's offices were closed after the ultimatum expired and access cards were deactivated are now considered confirmed. Among other things, the BBC shows the appropriate notification to the remaining staff. It states: "With immediate effect we are temporarily closing our offices and access with electronic cards will be suspended. Offices will reopen on Monday November 21st.«
Current Twitter trends: #Twitterdown and #RIPTwitter
A reason for the closure is not given, the message only contains the note that one should continue to comply with company guidelines and not share confidential information on social media, with the media or otherwise. The text concludes with the sentence "We look forward to working with you on Twitter's exciting future."
The question of the hour is whether Twitter has a future. On the network itself, hashtags like #Twitterdown and #RIPTwitter are in the list of so-called trends. For some ex-tweeters (that's what Twitter employees call themselves) there are simply too many leaving for the site to survive. Melissa Ingle, one of those already fired, told Technology Review that there was "not enough technical expertise left to keep the site running." Without major changes, she doesn't know how Twitter would get through the month.
