Get All Access for $5/mo

Photo Exposes Overworked Twitter Employee Sleeping on Office Floor: 'Pushing Round the Clock' Elon Musk's Twitter takeover has begun as employees describe working around the clock to meet deadlines.

By Emily Rella

Twitter via Evan Jones

Rumors have swirled over Elon Musk's Twitter takeover and how his acquisition of the company has subsequently impacted employees' work lives, with reports of 12-hour work days and no compensation for overtime pay.

Though some sources have chosen to remain anonymous, one Twitter employee is causing a stir on the social media platform after posting a photo of herself sleeping at the company's office — in a sleeping bag on the ground.

Esther Crawford, director of product management at Twitter's San Francisco HQ, was photographed (and then Tweeted by Evan Jones, product manager of Twitter Spaces) tucked into a sleeping bag alongside the caption, "When you need something from your boss at Elon twitter."

Per Linkedin, Crawford has been at the company for just under two years while Jones has been there for one.

Crawford retweeted the photo herself, saying "When your team is pushing round the clock to make deadlines sometimes you #SleepWhereYouWork."

Musk's takeover of the company has not been seamless, including the ousting of several top execs and the looming threat of layoffs.

Crawford elaborated on the situation at hand in a lengthy thread after the photo received criticism from followers. She defended her work ethic, calling herself lucky to be able to work at such a pivotal time in tech history, and noted that sometimes this work requires sacrifice.

"I work with amazingly talented & ambitious people here at Twitter and this is not a normal moment in time. We are less than 1wk into a massive business & cultural transition," she wrote. "People are giving it their all across all functions: product, design, eng, legal, finance, marketing, etc … We've been in the midst of a crazy public acquisition for months but we keep going & I'm so proud of our strength & resilience."

Musk, who has continued to be extremely active on the platform since his acquisition was finalized last week, has not responded nor reacted to either Jones' or Crawford's Tweets.

Twitter was down around 8.65% in a one-year period as of Wednesday morning, though the company will be delisted from the NYSE as of November 8 due to Musk taking the company private.

Emily Rella

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior News Writer

Emily Rella is a Senior News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was an editor at Verizon Media. Her coverage spans features, business, lifestyle, tech, entertainment, and lifestyle. She is a 2015 graduate of Boston College and a Ridgefield, CT native. Find her on Twitter at @EmilyKRella.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Growing a Business

He Immigrated to the U.S. and Got a Job at McDonald's — Then His Aversion to Being 'Too Comfortable' Led to a Fast-Growing Company That's Hard to Miss

Voyo Popovic launched his moving and storage company in 2018 — and he's been innovating in the industry ever since.

Branding

ChatGPT is Becoming More Human-Like. Here's How The Tool is Getting Smarter at Replicating Your Voice, Brand and Personality.

AI can be instrumental in building your brand and boosting awareness, but the right approach is critical. A custom GPT delivers tailored collateral based on your ethos, personality and unique positioning factors.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

Is the AI Industry Consolidating? Hugging Face CEO Says More AI Entrepreneurs Are Looking to Be Acquired

Clément Delangue, the CEO of Hugging Face, a $4.5 billion startup, says he gets at least 10 acquisition requests a week and it's "increased quite a lot."

Business News

Apple Reportedly Isn't Paying OpenAI to Use ChatGPT in iPhones

The next big iPhone update brings ChatGPT directly to Apple devices.

Business News

You Can Now Apply to Renew Your U.S. Passport Online — But There's a Catch

The U.S. State Department officially launched the beta program this week.