Twitter has closed its offices until next week, amid reports that hundreds of employees have resigned following an ultimatum by new owner Elon Musk.
Employees at the company were told offices would reopen on Monday 21 November, and no reason was given for the closure.
Earlier this week, Musk told Twitter employees they had to commit to working long hours, and would need to be “extremely hardcore” or leave the company. Musk emailed the entire company asking them to agree to the pledge, saying anyone who didn’t sign up would be given three months’ severance pay.
Various news outlets are now reporting that a large number of Twitter employees have resigned following the ultimatum. Earlier this month the social media platform cut half of its workforce, leading some to speculate the company only had around 2,000 employees left. Prior to Musk taking over, the company employed around 7,500 people.
In response to the turmoil, Musk has attempted to paint a rosy picture. He tweeted that the platform had just reached an all-time high in usage, only to be mocked by fellow users who claimed most people were there to see the drama unfold.
Musk bought Twitter in a $44 billion deal which was completed this month. But since then little has gone right. He attempted to introduce a new form of verification through the paid-for subscription Twitter Blue, but had to pause the service as impersonators were able to appear verified simply by paying the $7.99 charge.
Advertisers have reportedly walked away from the platform due to fears of how it will be moderated, meaning Twitter faces a gargantuan task in paying the $1 billion per year interest costs it was saddled with following the acquisition.
As employees continue to leave the company, the platform may suffer from security issues and infrastructure challenges, as there won’t be enough engineers to maintain services.