Musk: Unapproved Remote Work Over for Twitter Workers

Facts

• New Twitter owner Elon Musk on Wednesday sent his first email to employees, warning them about “difficult” financial times in the company’s near future, and banning remote work unless he personally approves it. Under previous leadership, Twitter had adopted a permanent work-from-anywhere arrangement for its employees.
• Monthly, company-wide “days of rest,” which were introduced during the COVID pandemic have also been eliminated.
• Musk wrote, “there’s no way to sugar coat the message” and “the road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed” in his first email, before sending a second email that said suspending bots, trolls and spam accounts are the company’s top priority.
• Just two weeks out from his $44B purchase of Twitter, Musk has laid off half the company’s workforce, including many top executives, and has begun revamping its "Twitter Blue" subscription program — charging $8 for a plan that includes user verification.
• Musk, who also said in his email that he wants subscriptions to account for half the company’s revenue, told advertisers in a Wednesday meeting they should be assured the result of his moves will be a safer, better Twitter.
• Employees at Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla are also limited in remote work options and must be in the office at least 40 hours a week.

Sources: Bloomberg, New York Post, and Reuters.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Verge. After paying a steep price for Twitter, Musk is free to do what he likes while managing his staff. But many of the company’s recent problems have been inflicted by Musk, who has scared off advertisers with his reduction in content moderating, and his bungled rollout of the flawed subscription service. He might want to look in the mirror before blaming his new staffers.
• Narrative B, as provided by Daily Wire. Musk is putting Twitter on the right track toward becoming a free-speech sanctuary, and he started with a positive crackdown on users, including celebrities, who have been wrongly impersonating high-profile users. Unfortunately, unhinged woke activists are organizing boycotts of advertisers and hindering his ability to make his vision for the company a reality. So he has to do what he can to counter that cut to revenue.

Predictions