Elon Musk scraps free lunches at Twitter to save $13m a year
Elon Musk has scrapped free lunches at Twitter to save $13m (£11m) a year, after claiming more people are preparing the meals than eating them.
Announcing the decision on the social media site, Mr Musk said: "Twitter spends $13m [per] year on food service for SF [San Francisco] HQ. Badge records show peak occupancy was 25pc, average occupancy below 10pc.
"There are more people preparing breakfast than eating breakfast. They don't even bother serving dinner because there is no one in the building."
He earlier claimed Twitter had spent $400 per lunch served over the last 12 months.
The billionaire is seeking to cut costs after buying Twitter in a $44bn deal, which piled the company with debt. High debt costs and a growing advertiser boycott since he took charge have put huge pressure on the business, with Mr Musk warning last week that bankruptcy was not out of the question.
False. Twitter spends $13M/year on food service for SF HQ. Badge in records show peak occupancy was 25%, average occupancy below 10%.
There are more people preparing breakfast than eating breakfast.
They don’t even bother serving dinner, because there is no one in the building.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Separately at a conference in Bali, Mr Musk said he was working "the absolute most amount... from morning til night, seven days a week."
Alongside Twitter, Mr Musk is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, and founder of tunnelling business the Boring Company.
He added: "I have too much work on my plate that is for sure."
Mr Musk said on Monday he would be “working & sleeping” at Twitter’s offices in San Francisco “until org [sic] is fixed.”
The billionaire businessman has cut back on perks such as company-wide working from home since taking charge and is now demanding staff return to the office at least 40 hours per week.
Mr Musk's decision to scrap free meals led to a confrontation with a former Twitter executive in charge of company real estate who challenging him over the cost of the company's food bill.
Tracey Hawkins, a former real estate manager at Twitter, replied to Mr Musk's claims, stating "attendance was anything from 20-50pc in the offices". Free meals "enabled employees to work [through] lunchtime and [meetings]," she said.
The decision to ditch free meals for staff came hours after Mr Musk reportedly laid off 4,400 of Twitter's 5,500 contractors, including some who monitor online safety.
This weekend, Twitter slashed the number of outsourced workers who handle reports of potentially hateful Tweets, according to technology newsletter Platformer. Twitter laid off around 50pc of its full-time staff earlier this month.
One Twitter content moderator, Melissa Ingle, said: "Laid off from Twitter on Saturday evening. No explanation, just all access removed."
Mr Musk has not commented on the decision, which could fuel fears among advertisers that he is not serious about removing harmful posts from the social network. Mr Musk has been seeking to reassure brands that their adverts will not appear alongside objectionable posts.
Last week Omnicom, a US marketing company with 5,000 clients, warned advertisers they should halt spending on Twitter "in the short term".
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
