As I’m sure everyone has heard, Elon Musk completed his $44 billion buyout of twitter on October 28th, 2022. This new rein in power has raised numerous controversial opinions, such as, whether his widespread layoff was necessary or if restoring Donald Trump’s account was a correct move.
As for Twitter, Musk stated that their work force needed to be reduced and their needed to be an employee cut immediately. However, those who would be cut would not receive the bonuses that were set to be given on November 1st. The executives warned their new boss that his plan could violate employment laws and breach contracts with workers, leading to employee lawsuits, the people said. But Mr. Musk’s team said he was used to going to court and paying penalties, and was not worried about the risks. So Twitter’s human-resource, accounting and legal departments scrambled to figure out how to comply with his command. After learning how much those penalties and fines would add up to, Musk decided to wait until November 1st to proceed with the job cuts.
With these new efforts from Elon Musk, companies like Apple, General motors, and Volkswagen have stated that they will no longer be advertising on twitter as they carefully watch and evaluate Mr. Musk’s ownership of the platform.
Mr. Musk elevated some managers at Twitter. He tapped Esther Crawford, a product manager, to revamp a subscription service called Twitter Blue. Mr. Musk wanted a new version of the service, which would cost $8 a month and include premium features and the verification check mark that was previously assigned for free to the accounts of celebrities, journalists and politicians to convey their authenticity. The team was given a deadline of Novemebr 7th to implement this change, or they would be fired.
As stated from the New York Times, Some more of Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover:
· An Established Pattern: Firing people. Talking of bankruptcy. Telling workers to be “hard core.” Twitter isn’t the first company that witnessed Elon Musk use those tactics.
· Targeting Critics: After laying off nearly half the company, Mr. Musk has continued cutting Twitter’s work force by firing employees who had criticized him.
· On the Edge: Mr. Musk gave the employees still with the company a deadline to decide whether to stay or leave. Hundreds resigned, leading users to question whether the site would survive.
· Unpaid Bills: Mr. Musk and his advisers have scrutinized all types of costs at Twitter, instructing staff to review, renegotiate and in some cases not pay outside vendors at all.
The cuts at Twitter have been enormous and have really damaged the image of Elon Musk. Most are describing his takeover as a “power trip” and an exaggerated effort. This new approach to Twitter is the same “hard core” tactic that he uses to run Tesla and SpaceX. He believes that if the individual can handle his work pace, then Twitter is not for them. As someone who interned at Tesla this past summer, I can honestly say that the work environment is extremely high volume and nothing like I have ever seen before. Not sure how I feel about this new approach to twitter but I will say that at least for Tesla and SpaceX this tactic has allowed them to progress at a rate faster than any other company.
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