Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has issued his first ultimatum to the company’s staff: implement paid verification on the social media platform or find a new job.
According to reports, one of Elon Musk’s instructions is to turn the company’s paid service, Twitter Blue, that unlocks more Twitter features, from $4.99 per month into a more expensive subscription that also verifies users.
The company is planning to charge $19.99 per month for Twitter Blue. Plus, there’s a new plan that provides verified users 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue checkmark.
On Sunday, management informed staff members working on the project that they have until November 7 to roll out the new feature or face termination.
Musk has been quite vocal about his desire to change the way Twitter validates users and deals with bots in the months building up to his acquisition. The whole verification process is being revamped right now, he tweeted on Sunday.
Although he has only been “Chief Twit” for three days, Musk has already begun making changes at Twitter, beginning with the site for inactive accounts.
He is also contemplating mass layoffs of middle management and engineers who haven’t lately contributed to the code base, with the support of Tesla engineers he has recruited into Twitter as consultants.
Managers have reportedly begun compiling lists of staff to lay off, and the layoffs are set to begin this week. Workers who have been assigned to Musk’s initiatives since he assumed charge on Thursday evening have been putting in extra time and effort, working through the night and through the weekend.
