'I'm not super worried': Musk says after reports of hundreds of employees quitting
New York (PTI): Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has said that he is "not super worried" over the future of the social media giant as "the best people are staying", after hundreds of employees appeared to have left the company following a deadline by him that they commit to what he has dubbed a "hardcore Twitter 2.0" or quit.
Twitter fell into a pitless chaos after several employees appeared to have departed the company, which sent messages that it was closing its "office buildings" for the next few days.
"The best people are staying, so I'm not super worried," Musk tweeted in a response to a tweet by a user who said "What do people mean when they say Twitter is gonna shut down? Doesn't it kinda run itself? I feel like engineers are for changes not to just keep it running? I also don't know anything. Hey @elonmusk wanna do a Twitter space with me? Im confused."
In another tweet, Musk, the world's richest person, said "And we just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol. Let that sink in "
The New York Times said in a report that after a 5 pm Thursday deadline was given by Musk to employees to choose whether to quit or stay on at Twitter, "hundreds of Twitter employees appeared to have decided to depart with three months of severance pay." Twitter also announced through email that it would close "our office buildings" and disable employee badge access until Monday.
During all this, Musk and his advisers also held meetings with some Twitter workers deemed "critical" and to stop them from leaving the company. The chaos also included confusing messages from Musk about the company's remote work policy.
Musk's team also held meetings with "undecided employees" who are considered key to Twitter's operations in a bid to try to persuade them to stay.
"In his pitch, Mr Musk said that he knew how to win and that those who wanted to win should join him," the NYT report said.
"In one of those meetings, some employees were summoned to a conference room in the San Francisco office while others called in via videoconference. As the 5 pm deadline passed, some who had called in began hanging up, seemingly having decided to leave, even as Mr Musk continued speaking," it added.
Over the past few weeks, Musk has been firing those who oppose or disagree with him, often through public tweets. He has told employees that they need to be "extremely hard core" to make the company a success and gave Twitter's remaining employees just about 36 hours to leave or commit to building "a breakthrough Twitter 2.0."
The unraveling at Twitter came within weeks of Musk acquiring the social media company for USD 44 billion last month and laying off half of Twitter's 7,500 full-time workers.
The NYT report added that the "shedding of so many employees in such a compressed period has raised questions about how Twitter will keep operating effectively."
The report said after Musk asked workers to decide whether to stay with the company or depart, employees were provided with an FAQ (frequently asked questions) document about exit packages on Wednesday.
The FAQ opened by saying that Musk's ultimatum was an "official company communication" and "not a phishing attempt."
"As you have seen, Twitter is at the beginning of an exciting journey," the document said.
The FAQ said employees would have to "maximise working from an office" and "work the hours necessary to do your job at the highest level," including early mornings, late nights and weekends, the NYT report said.
Musk also sent out confusing and differing messages about Twitter's remote work policy, first saying that all Twitter employees must come into the office to work at least 40 hours a week and then announcing that "Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution."
The NYT report said minutes later, Musk "sent another email to staff saying managers were on the hook not to lie about strong work as a cover for employees to work from home."
"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," Musk said.
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Woman, 2 sons found dead in Delhi home; suicide suspected
New Delhi (PTI): Three members of a family were found dead inside their home in southeast Delhi's Kalkaji on Friday, with police suspecting it to be a case of suicide, officials said.
Police said the incident came to light around 2.47 pm when a police team reached the premises to execute a court order related to possession of the property. When repeated knocks went unanswered, the staff used a duplicate key to open the door.
Inside, officers found Anuradha Kapoor (52) and her sons, Ashish Kapoor (32) and Chaitanya Kapoor (27), hanging from the ceiling, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari said in a statement. All three were declared dead.
A handwritten note was recovered from the room, suggesting the family had been struggling with depression.
"The handwritten note indicates emotional distress faced by the family due to which the family may have taken the extreme step," the officer said.
The bodies have been shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) mortuary for post-mortem and other legal formalities under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), police said.
Residents of the neighbourhood said they were shocked to learn about the deaths, adding that the family kept largely to themselves.
Pankaj Kashyap, a resident of Girinagar, said he learnt about the deaths while leaving for work. "I live and work here and was leaving for work when I saw many people standing outside and talking. That is how I got to know that three people had committed suicide. I also saw several police vehicles outside, but I do not know much beyond that," he said.
Baldev, another neighbour, said the family had been living in the newly constructed house for around two years. "We only knew that a mother and her two children lived there. They had moved into the newly built house around two years ago. We did not interact much with them. Today we heard that all three have committed suicide, and whatever we know is based on what people here are saying," he said.
Another neighbour, Ramesh Kumar, claimed the family had earlier attempted suicide.
"About fifteen to twenty days ago, the two sons in the family had attempted suicide and police and ambulances had come. That was when I first got to know who they were. I do not recognise them by face, but we saw the ambulances and police take the two sons that day. Today again we saw ambulances and police arriving, so everyone came out to see what had happened. I do not know how long they had been living here, but this is all we know," he said.
Police said they are examining the family's financial condition, social circumstances, and other factors that may have contributed to the incident. Further investigation is underway.
