Musk asks if Twitter HQ should be turned into a homeless shelter because ‘no one turns up anyway’ due to its ‘work from home forever’ policy –
New majority Twitter shareholder Elon Musk issued a poll to his millions of followers on the social media platform on Saturday, asking if he should transform the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters into a homeless shelter.
In the post, Musk – who purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant earlier this week and was subsequently named to the company’s board of directors – seemingly took aim at the company’s lax remote working policies, saying he came up with the plan ‘since no one shows up anyway.’
So far, the results of the 24-hour poll, posted at 9:30 PM ET by the billionaire businessman, suggests overwhelming support for the prospective undertaking – with 91.1 percent of more than 923,459 respondents voting in favor of the plan within two hours of its posting.
‘It’s been almost two years since we closed our offices and travel and I’m excited to announce that we’re ready to fully open up business travel and all our offices around the world!’ Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote in a note to employees posted to Twitter March 3.
‘Business travel is back effective immediately, and office openings will start on March 15,’ the exec wrote.
In the statement, Agrawal, who was promoted to CEO of the San Francisco-based company in November, said that he would be honoring a policy put in place by former head exec Jack Dorsey during the early days of the pandemic, that said staffers could work remotely ‘forever’ if they wanted to.
‘Our top priority since the beginning of the pandemic has been to keep you all safe and this will continue,’ Agrawal wrote.
‘Now we are returning to a stage where you’re living your lives, adjusting to local health guidelines, and deciding what works best for you.
‘So, the decisions about where you work, whether you feel safe travelling for business, and what events you attend, should be yours,’ the exec added, in a sentence this time set in bold.
‘As we open back up, our approach remains the same,’ Agrawal, 37, went on.
‘Wherever you feel most productive and creative is where you will work and that include working from home full-time forever,’ the CEO wrote, in another bolded sentence.
‘Office every day? That works too. Some days in the office, some days from home? Of course.’
Agrawal, however, warned that ‘distributed working will be much, much harder’ and said ‘there will be lots of challenges’ amid the new policy.
Agrawal went on to tout the advantages of having staffers in the same physical space, where they can experience the ‘company culture,’ and said that visits to the office will ‘bring that culture to life in such a powerful way.’
The CEO then provided a signoff that seemed hopeful of staffers’ desire to return to in-person work.
‘I look forward to seeing you all back at the office or perhaps at an event, somewhere in your home city, or mine?’
More than a month later, as Silicon Valley’s tech workers are starting to filter back to the office as Covid-19 cases plummet, it looks as if the CEO’s faith in staffers’ desire to return to work in-person was misplaced – something new board member Musk seemed to hone in on with his evidently mocking post.
Google, for instance, told employees last month that it would begin requiring employees to return in person at least three days a week – a policy that went into effect this past week
Apple similarly announced that by April 11, employees will have to work from the office at least one day a week.
Twitter, meanwhile, has not issued any in-person requirements for its staffers – a decision Musk seemingly panned in his post.
Prior to posting the poll, Musk also suggested further changes to Twitter’s business models in a series of tweets suggesting tweaks to the platform’s premium Blue service, including a cheaper subscription price, banning ads and offering the option to pay in cryptocurrency.
The service, which offers users access to additional features, like an undo button and ad-free news articles, currently costs $2.99 a month.
‘Price should probably be ~$2/month, but paid 12 months up front & account doesn’t get checkmark for 60 days (watch for credit card chargebacks) & suspended with no refund if used for scam/spam,’ Musk wrote Saturday.
‘And no ads,’ the South African mogul added. ‘The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive.’
Musk also declared that ‘Everyone who signs up for Twitter Blue (ie pays $3/month) should get an authentication checkmark.’
Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, ruffled feathers this week when it was announced he purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the social media giant – making him the platform’s largest shareholder – and was joining the company’s board of directors.
