Twitter employees were informed that the company’s offices around the world will be temporarily closed, effective immediately.
Twitter’s offices were forced to close abruptly on Thursday after hundreds of employees refused to work under Elon Musk new vision for the social platform.
Musk told Twitter employees this week that they would have to work long hours and be “extremely hardcore” or leave the company. According to the Washington Post, he told employees that if they wanted to stay, they had to agree to the pledge.
Those who did not sign up by Thursday, November 17, would be given three months’ severance pay, according to Elon Musk. The company announced earlier this month that it would be laying off approximately 50% of its workforce.
According to two people familiar with the company’s action, company officials informed employees that all buildings would be temporarily closed, effective immediately, and that their ability to enter with ID access would be suspended for the time being. The offices are set to reopen on Monday.
According to a Slack message seen by Insider, the closing of offices is a dramatic move intended to “prevent physical sabotage while they sort out access revocations.” The Platformer newsletter’s Zoe Schiffer first reported the closure on Twitter.
This is the second time that offices have abruptly closed since Musk took over Twitter. Musk began mass layoffs about three weeks ago, closing offices and barring employees from entering. The company stated in an email at the time that the offices were closing to “ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data.”
The closure came a week after Musk sent his first company-wide email to Twitter employees, in which he stated that remote work at the company was no longer acceptable, except for those performing “exceptional” work. In the days since, Musk has softened his stance on remote work, saying on Thursday that it would be permitted with the approval and backing of a manager.
