Elon Musk’s Twitter wants each penny. With thousands and thousands of {dollars} in allegedly unpaid hire and payments, plus $13 billion owed to lenders who financed his takeover, there’s “nonetheless a lot work to do” if the corporate is to keep away from chapter, Musk said last month.
Twitter not too long ago auctioned off an estimated $1.5 million of furnishings and tools from its San Francisco headquarters, right down to trifles reminiscent of keyboards and USB dongles. However the firm has left tens, or probably, a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} of shimmering property to assemble mud in former workers’ properties.
Some individuals laid off or fired by Musk are puzzling over why Twitter hasn’t bothered to gather their company laptops, the newest head scratcher in a takeover characterised by botched product launches, abrupt coverage adjustments, and delayed paychecks.
Eric Frohnhoefer, a California software program engineer fired in November after confronting Musk through tweet, says he has not heard a peep about returning his company-issued Apple MacBook Professional M1 Professional laptop computer from 2021 (8/10 Startup Recommends). “It’s nonetheless sitting in a closet,” he says. Just like the laptops of 1000’s of distant Twitter workers that Musk has terminated or let resign since early November, his was digitally locked, rendering it ineffective.
Refurbished variations of his mannequin can nonetheless fetch round $1,000, and new ones retail for twice that. Frohnhoefer doesn’t really feel indebted to Musk and is in no rush to return the machine. “I’m completely happy letting it sit there and be a brick,” he says.
Two different ex-Tweeps say they’re much less relaxed about their custody of Musk’s costly paperweights as a result of they’re among the many employees nonetheless owed severance, they usually worry it may result in additional delays to their compensation, and even authorized issues down the road. On ex-employee discussion groups, braver souls have mentioned making an attempt to crack their laptop computer’s lock code or wipe and reset the system, a type of sources says.
Twitter didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Companies usually need their units again shortly from departing employees to guard proprietary information and get monetary savings, by slicing leases for the tools or by reuse and resale. However there are exceptions. Snap and Airbnb confirmed that they allowed employees laid off through the pandemic to maintain their company laptops.
Some former Twitter employees have advised colleagues they despatched gear again after reaching out to the corporate for pay as you go transport containers. Others throughout the previous few days obtained generic emails asking them to fill out a “Twitter System Assortment Survey,” a number of individuals say. However 4 out of 5 who spoke with Startup had not obtained the e-mail themselves and are nonetheless babysitting Musk’s property.
“I believe at this level Twitter figured it might price an excessive amount of to attempt to take all these laptops again with nowhere to retailer them—they haven’t been paying hire shortly you understand,” says Frank Meng, a machine-learning engineer in Canada laid off by Twitter in November. He came upon solely final week from one of many non-public group chats that returns may finally be occurring.
The survey seen by Startup describes badges, authentication tokens, company bank cards, company-issued cell telephones, and laptop computer chargers as objects that may be returned. Nevertheless, displays, keyboards, mice, show cables, and stands don’t should be collected, in response to the shape. What ex-workers ought to do with laptops just isn’t made clear.
The survey asks for an tackle the place a transport field for returnable objects may be despatched, however it additionally gives choices to drop tools at some Twitter workplaces.
When Startup wrote to a Twitter electronic mail tackle for tools returns that was shared by an ex-worker, an unsigned response got here again after about three hours linking to the shape and saying that additional directions and a field would arrive inside 30 days of submission. One laid-off employee says they’re not dashing to fill it out. “Elon can wait.”