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☆ A lawyer for fired Twitter staff says Elon Musk is trying to 'tap-dance' his way out of paying severance, and threatens a 'fun as hell' arbitration campaign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A lawyer representing laid-off Twitter staff sent a fiery letter to Elon Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro. Cohen tweeted that he hoped Musk would do the right thing, otherwise "it'll be fun as hell." He accused the world's richest person of "attempting to tap-dance your way out of Twitter's binding obligations to its employees." "If you don't unequivocally confirm by Wednesday, December 7 that you intend to provide our clients with the full severance Twitter promised them, we will commence an arbitration campaign on their behalf," Cohen said. Musk now stands accused by some former Twitter staff of failing to provide the severance package they were promised, as alleged in a previous lawsuit.

☆ In Big Tech, getting laid off can mean taking a fancy vacation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Typically in the US, workers receive little to no severance pay as it is not required under federal labor law. When companies do offer it, frequently severance pay is just one to two weeks of pay for every year a person has worked. One laid off worker there was on his way to Japan for vacation when he got the news he was laid off. Other workers tech who have been laid off feel similarly. Another former Twitter worker said colleagues are organizing "all kinds of trips" among those looking to travel.

☆ Elon Musk has fired so many Twitter workers by mistake that HR created an 'accidental termination' category to re-onboard employees
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The problem led Twitter's HR to make changes to get accidentally fired people re-onboarded quicker. Twitter workers are being mistakenly fired so often under CEO Elon Musk's leadership that human resources created a new internal category to identify and rehire them quickly. Musk's cuts to Twitter's staff have been so extensive that the company told remaining employees to try and recruit some laid off colleagues. Even before Thanksgiving, several employees had mistakenly lost access to their work badges that serve as passes into and around Twitter buildings, the people familiar said. Although people who Musk laid off or fired typically received an email confirming their termination, those notes often came several hours after employees lost access to work tools.

☆ Elon Musk calls on all Twitter designers, engineers doing software to sit on his floor of HQ for 'dense and intense' work
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk sent another unexpected directive to Twitter employees. Anyone working on software projects is to now sit on his floor of Twitter HQ, according to an email. Musk, who is Twitter's CEO since taking over the company a month ago, oversees Twitter's engineering and software organization closely. He has demanded that Twitter employees work from the office full time, reversing a policy put in place by co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey allowing anyone to work remotely full-time. Many engineers who still work at Twitter had already moved their desk space to the 10th floor in recent days, another person familiar said.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is recruiting just weeks after laying off half the company's staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk shared slides from a Twitter company presentation online. Since Musk bought Twitter, its workforce has shrunk by around three quarters through layoffs, resignations, and firings. The next week Musk started laying off staff, with around half of the company's workforce being cut. But two days later, on Wednesday night, several dozen more Twitter workers – mostly engineers – were fired for performance reasons. The slide from Musk's presentation to company staff doesn't say which roles the company is hiring for.

☆ Snap employees must work in the office at least four days a week next year, ending its 'remote first' policy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Many tech companies allow remote work, with some reverting to part time in-office work. Starting next year, in-office work will be required at Snap, employees were told. Snap employees will be spending most of their working hours in an office by next year. Starting in February, Snap employees will be required to work in an office at least four days per week, a person familiar with the plans said. Facebook is continuing to allow employees to work remotely and plans to close some offices as part of new cost-cutting efforts.

Over a dozen current and former employees told Insider's Eugene Kim that the division is in crisis — and the mounting losses and massive cuts underscore the swift downfall of Alexa. Go inside Amazon's Alexa unit. Jerod Harris/Getty ImagesWalt Disney stunned Hollywood this week by reinstating Bob Iger as its chief executive, and company insiders told us that his return to the throne came together in a matter of days. Getty ImagesTwitter's remaining employees are now expected to keep its CEO Elon Musk up to date on everything they work on each week. Responding to a tweet citing correspondent Kali Hays' report on the leaked email, Musk said the decision was "not unreasonable."

☆ See the slides Elon Musk used for his company talk on Twitter 2.0, including graphs saying signups and active minutes are at an all-time high
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk on Saturday shared slides he said were from a Twitter company talk he delivered. Musk shared a series of slides he said were from a Twitter company talk he delivered. The slides also listed features and goals Musk has for Twitter 2.0, including long-form tweets, encrypted DMs, and "advertising as entertainment." Musk and Twitter did not respond to requests for comment or additional details about the company talk he said the slides were used for. He previously shared some details of his vision for Twitter 2.0, which he described as "extremely hardcore," Insider's Kali Hays reported.

☆ 'Goncharov' isn't a real Martin Scorsese movie, but Tumblr convinced the internet it's a classic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Morgan Sung | Morgan Sung Is A Trends Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Martin Scorsese presents GONCHAROV. In 2020, another Tumblr user reblogged the post with a screenshot of a comment that read, "this idiot hasn't seen goncharov." The New York Times reports that "Goncharov" was the top trending topic on Tumblr by Monday evening, followed by "Martin Scorsese." "The goncharov bit on tumblr right now is one of the insane things I eve ever seen," Twitter user @gwenstacying said. Martin Scorsese is in on the joke.

☆ Elon Musk says he will create 'alternative' smartphone if Twitter is kicked out of the Apple App Store
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk is willing to build his own smartphone if Twitter gets kicked out of Apple's App Store. With Musk's changes to Twitter's content moderation, it could land outside Apple's rules. Musk wrote in a Friday tweet he would "make an alternative phone" to compete with Apple's iPhone if the tech giant ends up blocking Twitter from its powerful App Store. In a potentially bad sign for Twitter, Phil Schiller, a longtime Apple marketing executive who leads its App Store, last week deleted his Twitter account. Schiller's move came after Musk complained on Twitter about Apple's fees, saying they're effectively "a hidden 30% tax on the internet."

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter banning Donald Trump was a 'grave mistake.' The tech billionaire is 'fine' with Trump not tweeting, too.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said Twitter's ban of Donald Trump was a mistake. The move "undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America," according to the billionaire. Trump was reinstated by Musk last week and has yet to use the platform. As for kicking Trump off the platform in 2020, Musk claims the move had a bad effect on Twitter. "Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America," Musk wrote.

☆ Black Friday online shopping will hit a new record this year, even though consumers headed back to physical stores as the pandemic waned
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The day of Thanksgiving is growing as a shopping holiday, eating into Black Friday sales. Last year, the online total for the same shopping day was $8.92 billion. People spent $5.29 billion shopping online on Thursday, an increase of 2.9% from last year and an all-time high, according to Adobe. The rise of Thanksgiving as a shopping holiday and retailers releasing discounts on goods earlier and earlier may be affecting Black Friday's dominance. Cyber Monday is still expected to be the biggest online shopping day of the holiday season and the year.

☆ Some Twitter staff on H-1B visas and parental leave were fired in Elon Musk's pre-Thanksgiving purge, a former engineer says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Twitter engineer of three years said Elon Musk's "Twitter 2.0" team fired him before Thanksgiving. He said he was on a H-1B visa and many workers on "parental leave" had also been fired. Yiwei Zhuang, a software engineer of three years at Twitter, said his "employment is terminated immediately with no reason today by Elon's Twitter 2.0 team before Thanksgiving." Zhuang was one of roughly 700 employees on H-1B visas at Twitter prior to Musk laying off 50% of the company. Many H-1B workers were affected and are struggling to find roles to stay in the US.

☆ Elon Musk fired dozens more Twitter staff the night before Thanksgiving — days after saying he was done with layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dozens of Twitter employees were fired overnight on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter told Insider. Thousands of Twitter staff have been laid off, resigned, or fired since Musk took over. Thousands of Twitter employees have already been laid off, resigned, or fired by Musk, leaving critical workers stretched thin. Twitter teams are already so short-handed that many employees have had to work on Thanksgiving, the people said. These developments had led staff to believe that Musk had kicked his habit of sudden firings, one of the people said.

☆ Twitter reportedly scraps holiday pay for contractors as part of new rules that will begin during Thanksgiving
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter has cut holiday pay for contractors from Thanksgiving onwards, per a Platformer reporter. The measure will start during Thanksgiving, according to Schiffer. The Verge's Alex Heath said on Thursday that some Twitter engineers received an email on Wednesday evening, saying they were fired because their "code is not satisfactory." Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours about the company reportedly cutting contractors' holiday pay and firing some engineers. Twitter said on Monday in a company email viewed by Insider's Kali Hays that it was facing "a challenging economic climate where greater attention to cost management is essential."

☆ Elon Musk hires fake Twitter quitter. Is Ligma next?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk invited the two hoaxsters to Twitter HQ last week. Twitter has seen mass layoffs, resignations and many other changes since Musk took over. Elon Musk took a liking to two men who fooled members of the press into thinking they were laid-off Twitter engineers. Daniel Francis is now listed internally as a member of Twitter staff and is available on internal Slack channels, according to images seen by Insider. "Welcoming back Ligma & Johnson!"

☆ Twitter employee says the NY office cafeteria is serving 2 types of mac and cheese but grilled shrimp is off the menu, as cost-cutting continues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Changes have been made to a cafeteria menu amid Elon Musk's cost-cutting at Twitter, per the NYT. One employee said the New York office was no longer offering grilled shrimp on Monday. Twitter's free food and drink is transitioning to a "partially paid" model, according to an email sent to Twitter employees and seen by Insider. In the future, most Twitter employees will have to pay for much of the food at the company, and home WiFi and team activities would no longer be paid for. Allowances would be re-evaluated over time and could be added back when the company's financial situation improves, according to the email sent to employees.

☆ Elon Musk refused to pay travel expenses that were racked up by Twitter execs before he took over, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has refused to pay Twitter's travel expenses incurred before his takeover, the NYT reports. Current and former Twitter staff told The Times that executives at the company racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel invoices before the billionaire's acquisition in late October. However, when Musk became the owner of Twitter, he refused to pay off these bills, the former and current employees told The Times. The Times didn't disclose an exact figure for the total amount of travel invoices. The email said travel for Twitter staff must be for "business-critical purposes," and managers have to approve the trip and estimated costs before any arrangements are made.

☆ Elon Musk puts an end to some Twitter perks, limits expenses due to company's 'challenging' financial situation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The email also addressed new policies on free food at Twitter, vacation time and other processes. "The future of Twitter is super bright if we can work together to be wise stewards of the company's resources." In addition to these and other changes detailed in the email, Twitter employees are expected to work in the office everyday as of Monday, the day the email was sent. "Allowances will be reevaluated over time and may be added back when the company's financial situation improves," the email noted. Meaning Twitter employees will now have to pay for much of the food the company will offer, where before everything was free.

☆ Leaked email shows that Twitter employees must send Elon Musk weekly updates of everything they've worked on to 'innovate rapidly'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter CEO and billionaire Elon Musk directly oversees its engineering department. Everyone doing technical work is now expected to send a weekly update on what they've accomplished. This will help Twitter "innovate rapidly on software," according to a leaked email. Twitter's remaining employees are now expected to keep its CEO Elon Musk up to date on everything they work on each week. "In order to innovate rapidly on software, it is critical to understand what everyone is working on and who is coding what," the email said.

☆ Elon Musk says it's 'not unreasonable' to want weekly updates from Twitter staff to know if 'anything was accomplished'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said it's "not unreasonable" for Twitter staff to give weekly updates about their work. The comment came after an Insider report on an email sent by Musk to Twitter staff on Monday. The email demanded staff provide updates on their projects every Friday. Under a tweet by markets news site Unusual Whales which cited Insider's report, Musk commented: "Perhaps not unreasonable to know if anything was accomplished." Unusual Whales had tweeted: "BREAKING: Leaked email shows that Twitter employees must send Elon Musk weekly updates of everything they've worked on to 'innovate rapidly,' per BI."

☆ Elon Musk's 'hardcore' work ultimatum was a deliberate plan to push Twitter employees out after he was warned against cutting more than 50% of staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk laid off half of Twitter's staff. But he agreed to laying off just 50% to start with after he was advised again making bigger cuts, Platformer reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Instead, he sent staff a now-infamous email telling them to commit to "hardcore" work as a deliberate ploy to push more employees to leave, Platformer reported. Immediately after taking control of Twitter, Musk fired some key execs including CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal. Some staff who committed to Musk's "hardcore" Twitter, meanwhile, were laid off by the company, Platformer and Bloomberg reported.

☆ The death of Twitter won't be as messy as many expect. Here's what its demise could look like.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, we're talking about what the downfall of Twitter could look like — and it's probably not what you think. Reporting from my colleagues Matt Weinberger and Kali Hays suggests the site probably won't crash and burn in spectacular fashion. The death of Twitter won't be the dramatic explosion you might expect. A leaked email shows Twitter employees must send Elon Musk weekly updates of everything they've worked on. In other Musk news, the billionaire told Twitter employees that he's done with layoffs for now, and he tweeted Monday that the Twitter Blue relaunch is on hold.

☆ Elon Musk tells remaining Twitter employees no more layoffs 'planned' and HQ will not move to Texas
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk held another meeting with Twitter employees. Musk gave remaining Twitter employees tidbits of good news during an all-hands meeting on Monday at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, according to two people present. One employee who made it through Musk's layoffs and a spate of firings of perceived critics said Musk's comments were met with "some relief." Musk also said during the meeting he "does not intend" to move Twitter's headquarters to Texas from San Francisco. Twitter employees were also told that part of their future compensation plans under Musk will include stock grants and be offered and paid out as they are with employees at SpaceX.

☆ A fired Twitter engineer said he would have come up with 'way cleverer and more devastating jokes' about Elon Musk if he'd known he was getting canned
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Twitter engineer said he believes he was fired for violating for criticizing Elon Musk on Slack. He said he would have come up with "way cleverer and more devastating jokes" if he'd known he'd be fired. then I would have come up with way cleverer and more devastating jokes," Fletcher tweeted. "I had meant to spend my whole career at Twitter," Fletcher added. In addition to the mass layoffs and targeted firings, dozens of Twitter workers have also been opting to leave the company.

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