Musk's "hard core" threat: a large number of Twitter employees have resigned, and the turnover rate may exceed 50%.

Beijing, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) A new wave of Twitter employees tweeted goodbye on Thursday after the ultimatum issued by Twitter's new boss, Elon Musk. Musk had previously asked employees to either accept the "hard core" culture of "long hours and high intensity" or resign.

Over the past day, many Twitter employees have been weighing their options. On Wednesday, they went to bed together and received an email sent overnight. Musk told them in an email to fill out a form by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday indicating whether he wants to stay at the company and is willing to accept an "extremely hard-core" work culture. Employees who are unwilling to accept will be dismissed and will be entitled to three months' severance pay. Musk has laid off about half of his staff since taking over Twitter.

Some employees said they suspected that many of their colleagues would accept Mr Musk's offer to leave the company, but they were not sure how many. About 50% to 75% of a group of about 60 employees told colleagues they planned to leave, one person said Thursday morning. However, some people say that other employees plan to stay, including for economic reasons, or because they are curious about the company's new direction.

People familiar with the matter said that far more employees refused to accept this "hard core" work culture than Mr Musk had expected, which could put Twitter's operation at risk. Twitter's internal communication channel is full of employees posting salute expressions, which has become a symbol of leaving the company.

Shannon Lis-Shannon Liss-Riordan, a labor lawyer in Brooklein, Massachusetts, said she spent the whole day on Wednesday taking calls from Twitter employees who wanted to be clear about her rights after Musk issued an ultimatum overnight. Leardon has filed three lawsuits against Twitter on behalf of outgoing employees.