Twitter Will Now Allow ‘Exceptional’ Employees to Work From Home, Says Elon Musk

Elon Musk clarified Twitter’s new policy on remote work in a couple of emails sent to employees on Thursday, explaining that exceptions can be made for workers “doing excellent work” as long as they meet in person with their colleagues at least once per month (via CNBC).

Musk wrote in his first email:

Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution. It is also expected that you have in-person meetings with your colleagues on a reasonable cadence, ideally weekly, but not less than once per month.

The move comes after Musk last week repealed Twitter’s “work from home forever” policy in his first company-wide email since acquiring and privatizing Twitter in October.

In his second email, Musk told managers their jobs would be on the line when they vouch for employees working under them.

“At the risk of stating the obvious, any manager who falsely claims that someone reporting to them is doing excellent work or that a given role is essential, whether remote or not, will be exited from the company,” he wrote.

Musk did not go into detail about what counts as “excellent work.” Twitter employees have also told CNBC that the company’s human resources team is yet to issue formal guidance on remote work and related particulars.

Twitter is currently in the throes of a massive downsizing that started with Musk laying off about half of the company’s 7,400 workers earlier in the month. Days later, the social media giant cut 4,400 of its 5,500 contract workers.

What’s more, hundreds of Twitter’s remaining full-time employees reportedly turned in their resignations on Thursday after rejecting Musk’s ultimatum to join “Twitter 2.0” and commit to “working long hours at high intensity,” or leave with three months of severance.