Hundreds Of Workers Seem To Leave Twitter As Elon Musk's 'Hardcore' Deadline Passes

Hundreds of Twitter employees appeared to flee on Thursday after Elon Musk demanded that only extremely hardcore staffers remain as he seeks to transform the social media giant to fit his own vision.

Musk sent a memo to staffers Wednesday morning saying Twitter would only have room for those prepared to work long hours at high intensity, echoing expectations at his other companies, Tesla and SpaceX.

Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore, he wrote. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.

The email asked staffers to click on a link if they were prepared to meet those expectations. Anyone who declined would be offered three months severance, it said.

The New York Times reported that Musk and his team met with some Twitter workers who had not signed on to the new expectations just hours before the 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday, trying to stop some employees deemed critical to the business from leaving.

He also appeared to scale back his demand that all employees return to the office for at least 40 hours a week.

Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution, Musk said before adding that any manager who falsely claims someone is doing excellent work would be fired.

But as the Thursday ultimatum period passed, it appeared that hundreds of resignations had begun to pile up , including from some employees Musk had tried to woo before the 5 p.m. deadline.

CNN s Oliver Darcy reported that the companys Slack server was full of employees posting the salute emoji, effectively signaling their departure. One former employee who left recently described the event as a mass exodus.

I'm told that in Twitter's slack, scores of staffers have posted the Salute emoji, as many appear to reject Musk's \"hardcore\" ultimatum. (The salute emoji has been what tweeps post as they exit.) A former exec who recently left described to me what's occurring as a \"mass exodus.\"

Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 17, 2022","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Oliver Darcy","author_url":"https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy","cache_age":86400,"description":"I'm told that in Twitter's slack, scores of staffers have posted the Salute emoji, as many appear to reject Musk's \"hardcore\" ultimatum. (The salute emoji has been what tweeps post as they exit.) A former exec who recently left described to me what's occurring as a \"mass exodus.\" Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 17, 2022\n\n","options":{"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Oliver Darcy on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1593377788052094978","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"6376cfd6e4b08013a8b4d498","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/elon-musk-hardcore-deadline-twitter-workers-leave_n_6376cfd6e4b08013a8b4d498","entryTagsList":"twitter,elon-musk","sectionSlug":"us-news","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"technology,business","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.us-news","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/a12a6b22-d088-4434-b7b7-f5f27eb0777c/2_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":5},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"6376cfd6e4b08013a8b4d498","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Twitter","slug":"twitter","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/twitter","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/twitter","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/twitter"},"department":{"name":"Life","slug":"lifestyle"},"section":{"title":"Tech","slug":"technology"},"topic":{"title":"Twitter","slug":"twitter","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/life/topic/twitter"},{"name":"elon musk","slug":"elon-musk","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/elon-musk","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/elon-musk","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/elon-musk"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"U.S. News","slug":"us-news"},"topic":{"title":"Elon Musk","slug":"elon-musk","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/elon-musk"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

I'm told that in Twitter's slack, scores of staffers have posted the Salute emoji, as many appear to reject Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum. (The salute emoji has been what tweeps post as they exit.) A former exec who recently left described to me what's occurring as a "mass exodus."
Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 17, 2022

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Darcy added that the company emailed staffers later on Thursday saying it had immediately closed Twitters office buildings and suspended all badge access until Monday.

We look forward to working with you on Twitters exciting future, the company added in the note.

Musk finalized his $44 billion takeover of Twitter last month. He then laid off half of Twitters 7,500 full-time employees and reportedly fired any other workers who deigned to criticize his management style. Its unclear how the recent bout of departures will impact the companys ability to operate.