Free lunches for employees are off the menu at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters in the latest changes made by new owner Elon Musk.
The end of the free lunches was only briefly mentioned in a lengthy New York Times report on Mr. Musk’s takeover last Friday, but it drew attention from critics on Twitter.
After one user accused the tech mogul of starving employees, Mr. Musk responded on Sunday that so few people came to the office that the cost of each lunch rose to $400 per meal.
Tracy Hawkins, a former Twitter employee, hit out at Mr Musk, calling his value a “lie”.
“I ran this program until a week ago, when I resigned because I didn’t want to work [Mr. Musk],” Ms. Hawkins wrote in her response to the new Twitter owner. “We were spending $20-$25 a day per person for breakfast and lunch. This allowed employees to work during lunch hours and [meetings]. Attendance was between 20 and 50% in the offices.’
Mr. Musk said Ms. Hawkins’ claim was false and that the company spends $13 million a year on food for its San Francisco office. He added that records show peak occupancy was 25% and average occupancy was below 10%.
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“There are more people who make breakfast than people who eat breakfast,” Mr. Musk wrote. “They don’t even serve themselves lunch because there’s nobody in the building.”
Changes have come hard and fast at the social media platform since Mr Musk completed his purchase late last month.
About 50% of the company was laid off, and several executives were fired “for cause” to avoid large severance payments.
The tech mogul also told employees at their first staff meeting last week that all workers must return to the office or “resignation will be accepted,” according to tech news site The Verge.
