Twitter is under investigation by city officials in San Francisco following a complaint that the company allegedly converted rooms in its headquarters to sleeping quarters, an inquiry that has drawn scorn from Elon Musk.
As of Monday, the office has “modest bedrooms featuring unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant conference-room telepresence monitors” with four to eight beds a floor, employees told Forbes. The changes appear to be part of Mr Musk’s plan for “hardcore Twitter” in which he’s demanded workers dedicate “long hours at high intensity” after he fired nearly half the company’s workforce.
But the San Francisco Chronicle reported the company has not applied for any permits to use portions of the building for residential purposes.
The San Francisco department of building inspection confirmed to several media outlets that it is investigating the matter after receiving a complaint and that it plans to inspect the company’s headquarters.
Parties’ general election manifestos struggle to make the figures add up
On his return to Web Summit, the often outspoken chief executive Paddy Cosgrave is now an epitome of caution
Surviving a shake-up: is restructuring ever good for staff?
The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Dalton Philips, Greencore
“We need to make sure the building is being used as intended,” a department spokesperson, Patrick Hannan, told the Washington Post. “There are different building code requirements for residential buildings, including those being used for short-term stays. These codes make sure people are using spaces safely.”
[ Meta scales back plan to occupy new European HQ in Dublin 4Opens in new window ]
The department has contacted the building representatives to conduct an inspection and if the headquarters are no longer up to building code, it will issue a notice of violation. They city treats all property complaints and owners the same, Mr Hannan said.
“No one is above the law,” Mr Hannan added.
Chinese interest in the ‘golden visa’ scheme surges
Irish Times Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beesley joins Ciarán Hancock to discuss the recent spike in applications by wealthy Chinese citizens to the Immigrant Investor Programme. The scheme allows applicants, with a minimum net worth of €2 million, to obtain residency in the State, if they invest in the Irish economy. With the number of applications almost tripling in the first nine months of the year, speculation is mounting that the scheme could be closed off. Later on, we hear from Economics Correspondent Cliff Taylor who discusses how rising interest rates, coupled with a slowdown in construction are impacting the housing market.
Mr Musk was critical of the investigation. “So city of SF attacks companies providing beds for tired employees instead of making sure kids are safe from fentanyl. Where are your priorities @LondonBreed!?” he said on Twitter with a link to an article detailing an account from a father who says his baby overdosed on fentanyl after being exposed to the drug at a city playground.
No city or police officials have confirmed whether or not the child’s emergency was the result of fentanyl exposure.
Some workers have already reported sleeping in company headquarters. Twitter’s director of product management, Esther Crawford, shared a photo last month of her sleeping in the office with an eye mask and sleeping bag. “When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork‚” Crawford wrote on Twitter.
Employees told Forbes that no announcement was made about the new beds but that they believed they were there so workers could stay in the office overnight.
“It’s not a good look,” they said. “It’s yet another unspoken sign of disrespect. There is no discussion. Just like, beds showed up.” – Guardian service
