Elon Musk demands Twitter staff return to the office full-time, as he ends remote working

The Tesla CEO has officially had his first contact with his workers at Twitter. His first directive was to inform them that remote working had been discontinued and that they should return to the office full-time. Illustration: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

The Tesla CEO has officially had his first contact with his workers at Twitter. His first directive was to inform them that remote working had been discontinued and that they should return to the office full-time. Illustration: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Published Nov 11, 2022

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Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been eventful, to say the least. The billionaire reportedly fired over 3 500 of his staff, asked some of them to come back and introduced the now infamous $8 (R138) for a blue verification mark feature.

Now, the Tesla CEO has officially had his first contact with his workers after all this. His first directive was to inform them that remote working had been discontinued and that they should return to the office full-time.

“Starting tomorrow (Thursday) everyone is required to be in the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week. Obviously, if you are physically unable to travel to an office or have a critical personal obligation, then your absence is understandable,” wrote Musk.

In this email shared on the “blue bird” he starts off by apologising for not sending it sooner.

“Frankly, the economic future ahead is dire, especially like a company like ours that is so dependant on advertising in a challenging economic climate.”

Musk said the issue is that 70% of the company’s advertising is brands rather than specific performance. According to the “Chief Twit” this makes the company “doubly vulnerable”.

He told the employees that’s why it was important to develop and launch Twitter Blue verified subscriptions. “Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn.”

Half of the popular social media platform’s revenue must come from the subscription service, according to Musk. “The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed.”

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