[US] Twitter’s entire payroll department quit after Musk’s ‘hardcore’ ultimatum

On November 17, Twitter’s entire payroll department quit the company in response to an ill-judged ultimatum from Elon Musk that has spectacularly backfired, Insider reports.

In addition to the mass payroll resignations, Twitter's US Tax team and its financial reporting team also resigned, according to two people familiar with the matter and several corresponding internal messages that were reportedly seen by Insider. 

These three areas of the company formed part of Twitter's finance and accounting organisation. Accounting was "less impacted" by resignations on Thursday, however, that part of the organisation is also smaller now, one of Insider’s sources said.

Employees are due to be paid again next week, one former worker said. Those payments are likely to have been already approved but the next round of payments will not have been, the source said. 

"What happens in another two weeks?" they asked. "When everyone who can approve something is gone."

Another former employee reportedly said, "Now we'll never see our money."All the people who spoke with Insider preferred not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. An Insider email seeking comment from Twitter on the night of November 17 was not returned. 

The dramatic loss of payroll and other financial department employees was part of a mass exodus of Twitter workers who refused to sign on to Musk's proposed "Twitter 2.0." 

The billionaire took over Twitter about four weeks ago. In a November 15 email, he said the platform would now be an "extremely hardcore" and engineering-forward place to work. He told the entire company to decide by Thursday (November 17) at 5 pm ET if they wanted to continue working at this version of Twitter. 

Those who wanted to continue were to click a link included in the email. Those who did not click the link - which only had a "yes" option, - would reportedly be considered to have made the decision to be part of a voluntary layoff and would receive three months of pay as severance, Mr Musk said.

The deadline passed with less than 50 per cent of Twitter employees signed up for Musk's Twitter 2.0, according to Insider reporting. Musk, members of his personal transition team and some leaders left at Twitter subsequently made personal calls and held meetings with several workers in an effort to get them to stay with the company. While a few did agree, the majority did not.

By the end of the day on Thursday, November 17, Twitter had reportedly lost several hundred more employees and an internal Slack channel was "flooded" with the salute emoji, company shorthand for saying goodbye to colleagues.

In early November, Mr Musk laid off close to 3,500 employees. These losses combined with Thursday's resignations mean there are probably fewer than 2,000 employees left at the company, two workers estimated.

Source: Business Insider

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

This loss matters. Read the GPA's take on the unprecedented mass resignation here.

On November 17, Twitter’s entire payroll department quit the company in response to an ill-judged ultimatum from Elon Musk that has spectacularly backfired, Insider reports.

In addition to the mass payroll resignations, Twitter's US Tax team and its financial reporting team also resigned, according to two people familiar with the matter and several corresponding internal messages that were reportedly seen by Insider. 

These three areas of the company formed part of Twitter's finance and accounting organisation. Accounting was "less impacted" by resignations on Thursday, however, that part of the organisation is also smaller now, one of Insider’s sources said.

Employees are due to be paid again next week, one former worker said. Those payments are likely to have been already approved but the next round of payments will not have been, the source said. 

"What happens in another two weeks?" they asked. "When everyone who can approve something is gone."

Another former employee reportedly said, "Now we'll never see our money."All the people who spoke with Insider preferred not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. An Insider email seeking comment from Twitter on the night of November 17 was not returned. 

The dramatic loss of payroll and other financial department employees was part of a mass exodus of Twitter workers who refused to sign on to Musk's proposed "Twitter 2.0." 

The billionaire took over Twitter about four weeks ago. In a November 15 email, he said the platform would now be an "extremely hardcore" and engineering-forward place to work. He told the entire company to decide by Thursday (November 17) at 5 pm ET if they wanted to continue working at this version of Twitter. 

Those who wanted to continue were to click a link included in the email. Those who did not click the link - which only had a "yes" option, - would reportedly be considered to have made the decision to be part of a voluntary layoff and would receive three months of pay as severance, Mr Musk said.

The deadline passed with less than 50 per cent of Twitter employees signed up for Musk's Twitter 2.0, according to Insider reporting. Musk, members of his personal transition team and some leaders left at Twitter subsequently made personal calls and held meetings with several workers in an effort to get them to stay with the company. While a few did agree, the majority did not.

By the end of the day on Thursday, November 17, Twitter had reportedly lost several hundred more employees and an internal Slack channel was "flooded" with the salute emoji, company shorthand for saying goodbye to colleagues.

In early November, Mr Musk laid off close to 3,500 employees. These losses combined with Thursday's resignations mean there are probably fewer than 2,000 employees left at the company, two workers estimated.

Source: Business Insider

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

This loss matters. Read the GPA's take on the unprecedented mass resignation here.