Why People Quit Working at Twitter - youramericanmoney
Author: Michelle
Description: We’ve all done it before, quit a job when it was time to move on. Maybe the working conditions weren’t ideal, you’ve outgrown the job or the commute sucked. And, for many, maybe they had a boss or colleague from hell. I’ve mentioned in previous podcast episodes that I truly loved the job that I […]
Date: 2022-12-05T10:00:00+00:00

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# Why People Quit Working at Twitter

posted on 5 December, 2022

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We’ve all done it before, quit a job when it was time to move on. Maybe the working conditions weren’t ideal, you’ve outgrown the job or the commute sucked. And, for many, maybe they had a boss or colleague from hell. I’ve mentioned in previous podcast episodes that I truly loved the job that I worked before going into business for myself. I worked with international students, adults ranging in ages from 17-65 years old learning English as a Second Language.

It was a fantastic job. I loved my colleagues many of whom I’m still in touch with and the students-many of whom I’m still in touch with. But, there were some friction points. Some were organizational, some because of where I lived vs. where I worked and other friction points created by staffing changeovers. So, when it was time to quit a job that I was deeply invested in, at an organization where people typically worked their entire career-it wasn’t done lightly. So, when I say that I have been fascinated by the conversation around employees opting to quit working at Twitter, I have so many thoughts and the first one is-why are people upset that people quit working at Twitter? In this episode I take a deep dive into why people quit working at Twitter.

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## Why People Quit Working at Twitter

For those of us who are regular users of Twitter, we’re very aware of what’s going on with the change over to a new owner. It has been sad and distressing to watch. Not just from the perspective as a user of the platform, but just from the perspective of being an employee. There’s nothing worse than dealing with sudden and abrupt upheaval in the workplace.

It’s literally the last place you want to be unnecessarily stressed out. I don’t know about you but when I go to work at a 9-5 I just want to go, get my work done, avoid eating at the potlucks and get paid. Ideally, your job is intellectually stimulating and you don’t have to work with too many douches. Hopefully, there’s some opportunity for advancement and you get solid benefits. And, the most important thing, hopefully you’re getting paid well for whatever it is you’re doing. If those basic work needs are met, usually a person will work at their job for awhile.

In my case, I had fantastic benefits. I paid $50 a month for health insurance, I had a state retirement, the opportunity to study for free up to 9 credits a year-that’s how I continued studying Spanish. I would go hiking during my lunch hours or go to hot yoga. But, some points of friction started to show up.

- My commute-I was living in Denver and commuting back to Boulder. When I was a little girl that drive was around 20-30 minutes. But, towards the end stages of me working at the university it was taking up to 2 hours each way because of construction and an explosion of traffic. The work on the highway took several years and was completed around the time that I quit. Ironically, it’s now one of the best sections of highway in the state now.

- Colleagues-The role of Director was a key role in the organization. The Director was our boss and we had 3 different sets of directors during my time in the department. I also had a colleague who would ignore me when I spoke both in meetings and outside of meetings. She would roll her eyes when I said anything, avoid walking near me if she saw me in the hallway and was basically a racist bitch. One thing about people like this is that they are consistent. She behaved like this to varying degrees with other people as well.

- Professional Growth-I would always have lateral advancement vs. moving up. This also became a huge issue for me. I’d done so much work for the organization and felt like I would never be fairly compensated in terms of professional opportunities and pay.

That was enough friction that eventually, I had to leave. Despite the fact the organization’s mission was still the same, my colleagues were still the same and I had great benefits. There was a breaking point. Here’s my thoughts on why people quit working at Twitter.

## Twitter Employees’ Breaking Point

I’m not surprised by what happened at Twitter. When your boss shows you who they are…believe them the first time. Their new boss is currently having to pay a $130 million award to a former Black Tesla employee who successfully sued on the basis of discrimination in the work place. It’s not like Twitter employees hadn’t heard about what was going on behind the scenes at Tesla. But then you have the disarray in the year leading up to finalizing the Twitter purchase…they were paying attention.

I’m 100% sure that a large percentage of these workers were preparing to leave the entire year and just hoping that they wouldn’t have to. I’m sure that they were banking their cash, getting their finances in order and crossing their fingers that the purchase didn’t happen.

So, when they were given the ultimatum to stay vs. work after firings during the first week-they walked out the door. Reportedly, around 1200 employees said “Bye” and walked out the door when offered the choice of hardcore vs. the organizational culture they had invested in. Those employees were wise to do it too because the majority got 3 months severance and a few other things.

What surprised me about all of this was that people everywhere got angry with workers who quit. Ironically, I saw a lot of tweets that said the following:

- I can’t believe they quit. Don’t they want to work with LonE?! He’s the richest man in the world, he’s a genius.

- There’s going to be a Recession, they’re dumb to quit.

- Those workers were lazy, so what that LoNNE wants them to work hard core.

Around 75% of American Employees work in At Will Employment situations. Just as an employer isn’t obligated to keep employees, workers can opt out of a situation that isn’t serving them well. With the exception of employees on work visas such as the H-1B, employees needing the medical coverage and folks truly needing the cash, I don’t see why anyone would opt to stay.

- Brand culture and mission had completely changed

- Trust was impacted in so many ways. Folks who opted to stay after the initial offer ended up getting fired and receiving a worse outgoing benefits package.

- Business revenue has dropped by around 50% as advertisers rethink their marketing strategies and reallocate their marketing funds elsewhere. From a job security standpoint, this would disturb me as an employee the most.

- Fascism-I said what I said

## Workers Have Become Empowered

Here’s the thing, the last couple of years have taught us the following:

- If possible build up a Fuck You Fund-I’m sure there were several folks who had one.

- I don’t know how many times people need to hear this-a company will replace you even if you’ve done nothing wrong. I’ll never forget the story that one of my friends who works in HR shared with us. They said that a great employee was let go after 20+ years of great work and loyalty because eliminating their wage was a key part of balancing the budget. The employee was shocked and brokenhearted. It wasn’t personal, he was just a set of numbers. Your number one allegiance at any job ultimately is to yourself.

- There are other opportunities even during down times. One of the comments that came up a lot was how people were stupid for quitting before a potential Recession.

- Always have an exit plan-Even if you’re in what feels like a super secure situation, think about what you would do in a worse case scenario.

- Know how to earn money outside of your 9-5 in the event that you have to bridge the financial gap. That could be by doing a side-hustle or focusing on a small business idea you’ve been working on.

- Have your references ready and keep your LinkedIn profile up to date.

- Keep track of what you’ve done for the organization in the role that you’re in. Think in terms of the following verbs and scenarios
  - Saved organization TK thousands of dollars
  - Made organization TK hundreds of thousands of dollars
  - Proactively upgraded core logistics/services

Some final thoughts. I am wondering why the immediate assumption was that Twitter employees weren’t working hard? Why would anyone be excited to go from work from home to 80 hour work weeks? People do have lives outside of work. Childcare arrangements, helping parents, volunteer work, pets or going to dance class or working on a certificate in order to uplevel one’s career. And it’s very clear that Twitter as a company had a very vibrant and impactful company culture that employees cared about.

I’m not saying that businesses shouldn’t downsize. I’m not saying that the workforce wasn’t bloated. I am saying that employees don’t have to deal with this type of treatment. We’re not slaves and 4 states passed initiatives in 2022 outlawing slavery. Who knows what will happen with Twitter. All I know is that the brand has been forever tainted for me and a lessoned learned. Always cover your ass because you never know what’s going to happen next.

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#### Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.

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