Elon Musk, who met directly with Twitter Inc. employees for the first time since signing a $44 billion deal to acquire the social network, told staffers they shouldn’t worry about changes to their jobs once he takes over — as long as their work is “exceptional,” that is.
At an all-hands meeting Thursday, Musk prompted a flurry of snarky, frustrated and concerned commentary on internal message boards with his remarks on several topics, including potential plans for layoffs and his approach to remote work. In both instances, Musk said that employees would be safe from job cuts and can continue to work remotely if they are creating “exceptional work.”
“The bias definitely needs to be strongly towards working in person, but if somebody is exceptional, then remote work can be OK,” said Musk, according to people who attended the meeting. The billionaire, who is also chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., recently demanded that many employees at the electric-car maker return to the office, sparking consternation among Twitter employees who were given the freedom to work from anywhere in 2020 as the pandemic shut down offices around the world.
