Bruce Daisley, the former VP for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Twitter, criticized Elon Musk for his behavior towards a disabled ex-employee on the platform.
Daisley spoke to iNews in the UK and expressed his disappointment with the way Twitter’s reputation has been affected by its current owner.
Daisley specifically mentioned Musk’s recent controversy with Haraldur Thorliefsson, a former director, who was targeted by hurtful remarks from Musk. Despite eventually apologizing for his actions, Musk’s behavior has contributed to the negative perception of Twitter.
“A big part of the way we think about our jobs is having a sense of pride about the job we do and where we work,” Daisley, who now runs the podcast “Eat Sleep Work Repeat,” told iNews. “The more Musk behaves like the local drunk — getting into slanging matches with disabled ex-employees — the less current employees will be proud to say they work there.”
Despite leaving the company prior to Musk’s leadership, Daisley empathizes with his ex-colleagues who continue to work at Twitter under Musk’s control. However, it’s probable that many of them have already departed as Twitter’s staff has decreased from over 8,000 to below 2,000 since Musk’s takeover in the autumn last year.
“It’s a pressure cooker,” a remaining Twitter staffer told the British news outlet on condition of anonymity. “There are no guidelines. There’s no respect. There’s absolutely zero transparency. It’s awful.”
“It’s a disaster,” another told iNews. “It looks like the owner is just throwing people into positions hoping they work out.”
Regarding Daisley, he used a clever metaphor to depict the condition of Twitter.
“It’s a little bit like the character in the cartoon who runs off the cliff but doesn’t fall straight away,” the ex-exec said. “Initially a lot of commentators were willing to say that the Twitter business was full of slackers, Elon had fired 75 percent of the employees and it was still running.”
“Well now Wile E. Coyote has looked down,” Daisley concluded, “and realized gravity does apply to him, too.”
