'Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade': Elon Musk says Twitter's success requires 'extremely hardcore' workers who put in 'long hours at high intensity'

Elon Musk issued an email telling Twitter employees that they must be "extremely hardcore" by putting in "long hours at high intensity" for the platform to succeed — the billionaire business tycoon gave workers a deadline of 5 p.m. Thursday to visit a link and indicate that they wish to remain at the company, warning that those who fail to do so "will receive three months of severance."

"Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to be extremely hardcore. This will mean working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade," Musk wrote in the email, according to CNBC, adding that the company "will also be much more engineering-driven" and "those writing great code will constitute the majority of our team and have the greatest sway."

"If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below," he wrote. "Anyone who has not done so by 5pm ET tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months of severance," he added. "Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful."

Musk, who acquired Twitter last month, wrote in an email last week that "intense work" would be necessary for the business to succeed and that he was putting the kibosh on the company's remote work policy.

"Frankly, the economic picture ahead is dire, especially for a company like ours that is so dependent on advertising in a challenging economic climate," he noted in the email last week, according to Insider. "Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn. We need roughly half of our revenue to be subscription," he noted. "The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed. We are also changing Twitter policy such that remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception," he wrote.

While the company had started rolling out $7.99 per month Twitter Blue subscriptions that provided users with a blue verification badge, the company has apparently paused that offering, and Musk has indicated that Blue Verified will relaunch November 29.

Musk urged independents to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterms last week, tweeting, "To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic."