As more staff leave, Twitter is hit with confusion, chaos, and gallows humour (#RIPTwitter)
Hundreds of key staff reportedly left the company Thursday ahead of Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore” culture reset of the social media giant.
The drama surrounding Elon Musk’s tumultuous rule over Twitter picked up speed on Thursday night as news of a crucial employee defection from the firm spread, sparking real concerns about the platform’s long-term sustainability.
Over half of the 7,500-person workforce at Twitter that Musk sacked when he took control of the firm. Since the Tesla CEO clashed with employees on Twitter and several employees left the firm willingly because they didn’t like Musk’s management style, there have been more dismissals. Ahead of Musk’s “very tough” cultural reset of the corporation on Thursday, additional important personnel left the organization.
The Verge reported that hundreds of Twitter employees resigned Thursday before a deadline of 5 p.m. ET. The billionaire had sent the remaining staff an ultimatum to get on board with “Twitter 2.0,” which would see employees work longer hours. Staff was required to respond “yes” on a Google form if they were in or out. Seemingly, plenty of system critical staff preferred to be out. Among a number of crucial engineers leaving, The Verge reported, the team that maintains Twitter’s core system libraries left the company Thursday.
According to an estimate made by Fortune tech reporter Kylie Robison in a thread, if the rumours are accurate and 75% of the remaining employees left Twitter on Thursday, the company’s headcount has decreased overall by 88 percent since Musk assumed control of the business. According to a tweet from Robison, 25% of Twitter employees were likely on work visas, making it more difficult for them to find new employment.
On Twitter, the bad news has rarely played out in real-time, and on Thursday, several of the top trending terms in the United States had to do with the site’s alleged collapse. The hashtags #RIPTwitter, #GoodbyeTwitter, and numerous others were popular, with users making lighthearted jokes and remembering good times as they anticipated the service’s demise.
Below is some of the viral reaction to news of the Twitter exodus Thursday.