Elon Musk scraps Twitter’s work from home policy

Elon Musk has scrapped Twitter's work from home policy and ordered its staff back to the office, days after firing 3,700 employees.

The social media platform's new owner told staff in an email, seen by the Guardian, that its "road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed".

The Tesla CEO added that working from home would no longer be allowed except in special circumstances, with such cases personally vetted by Musk.

"Remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception. Managers will send the exception lists to me for review and approval," Musk wrote.

He added that the new policy, first reported by Bloomberg, would be effective from Thursday for a minimum of 40 hours a week.

The news comes as the company continues to shed staff. Musk fired about half of the company's 7,500-strong workforce last Friday, having bought it for $44bn (£38.7bn) the previous week, and the chief information security officer, Lea Kissner, confirmed on Thursday she had left Twitter in the latest high-profile departure.

Musk said Twitter had been hit by a pause in spending from advertisers that had caused "a massive drop in revenue". Twitter makes most of its more than $5bn in annual revenue from advertising.