--- description: Elon Musk asked Twitter staff in an email to pledge to stay with the company, working long hours at “high intensity” or accept a buyout. title: Musk Tells Staff Accept ‘Hardcore’ Twitter or Leave in Email image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte357aca18f9d52ac/698a37ff01168283d7982861/musk-hardcore-twitter-staff-email.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Technology](/tag/technology/) ## Technology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Musk Tells Staff to Accept ‘Hardcore’ Twitter or Leave in Email by [Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2022 3:48 PM CUT  Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks up as he addresses guests at the Offshore Northern Seas 2022 (ONS) meeting in Stavanger, Norway on August 29, 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks up as he addresses guests at the Offshore Northern Seas 2022 (ONS) meeting in Stavanger, Norway on August 29, 2022.Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP—Getty Images by [Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2022 3:48 PM CUT Elon Musk sent an email to Twitter Inc. employees requiring them to pledge to stay with the company, working long hours at “high intensity” during its [transformation](https://time.com/6232901/twitter-blue-signups-unavailable-fake-accounts/ "undefined"), or to accept a buyout. Staff will have to complete the online form by 5 p.m. New York time on Thursday or accept three months severance. For Twitter to succeed, “we will need to be extremely hardcore,” Musk said in the email, which was seen by Bloomberg. **Read More:** [_Big Tech Is Laying Off Tons of Workers. That’s a Bad Sign for Your Company, Too_](https://time.com/6232154/layoffs-meta-twitter-economy/ "undefined") “Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade,” the email said. A representative for Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post [reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/ "undefined") the memo earlier. **Read More:** [_Elon Musk Has Inherited Twitter’s India Problem_](https://time.com/6230338/twitter-india-elon-musk-free-speech/ "undefined") Musk said in the note that Twitter will be more dominated by engineers going forward, making up the majority of remaining employees and having the greatest influence at the company, which he called a “software and servers company” at its heart. Design and product management functions will “still be very important and report to me,” he said. --- ### More from TIME --- The billionaire announced plans to [fire about 3,700 people](https://time.com/6228724/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs/ "undefined") in his first week in control of the company. The cuts, which included most of Twitter’s senior management, have upset many of the remaining employees. Musk’s changes have also led to a lack of communication internally and [concerns](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-14/musk-publicly-punishes-twitter-engineers-who-call-him-out-online "undefined") about product breakdowns and technical outages, according to current and former staffers. **Read More:** [_Twitter Was a Lifeline for People With Disabilities. Musk’s Reign Is Changing All of That_](https://time.com/6230469/disability-users-twitter-elon-musk/ "undefined") Since then, Musk has continued to purge employees who have criticized him, sometimes via Twitter. Musk has warned since his $44 billion [acquisition](https://time.com/6226238/twitter-elon-musk-right-wing-influencers-politicians-celebrate/ "undefined") last month that Twitter [could face bankruptcy](https://time.com/6232669/musk-says-bankruptcy-possible-as-roth-and-wheeler-leave/ "undefined") if it doesn’t start generating more cash. He has told employees they can expect to work 80-hour weeks and fewer office perks like free food, and ended the company’s work-from-home policy with a few exceptions. _— With assistance from Ed Ludlow._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6234390/musk-twitter-staff-email-hardcore/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6234390/musk-twitter-staff-email-hardcore/"},"headline":"Musk Tells Staff to Accept ‘Hardcore’ Twitter or Leave in Email","datePublished":"2022-11-16T15:48:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:52:52.688Z","description":"Elon Musk asked Twitter staff in an email to pledge to stay with the company, working long hours at “high intensity” or accept a buyout.","url":"https://time.com/6234390/musk-twitter-staff-email-hardcore/","keywords":["Technology","Tech","wire","biztech2030","bloomberg wire"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte357aca18f9d52ac/698a37ff01168283d7982861/musk-hardcore-twitter-staff-email.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kurt Wagner/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte357aca18f9d52ac/698a37ff01168283d7982861/musk-hardcore-twitter-staff-email.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Musk Tells Staff to Accept ‘Hardcore’ Twitter or Leave in Email","caption":"musk-hardcore-twitter-staff-email","creditText":"Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/technology/","name":"Technology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6234390/musk-twitter-staff-email-hardcore/","name":"Musk Tells Staff to Accept ‘Hardcore’ Twitter or Leave in Email"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Inside Twitter’s Chaotic First Days Under Elon Musk","description":"Elon Musk dropped more hints over the weekend about ways he’d make Twitter more profitable, now that his $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform is complete. 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