Space transportation and rocket manufacturing company, SpaceX has now fired a number of employees who were said to have written and distributed a letter that criticized the company’s CEO, Elon Musk according to the New York Times.
The letter was first reported by The Verge stating that Musk’s constant misconduct is a source of distraction and embarrassment to them, especially in recent weeks. They also called for the company to publicly address and condemn the CEO’s harmful Twitter behavior.
“As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX,” the letter said. “Every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.”
However, the company wasn’t having it at all as the company’s president Gwynne Shotwell announced the termination of the employees involved in the letter via an email sent across to staff.
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The number of staff that were fired due to the issue wasn’t indicated and efforts to reach the company for comments weren’t successful at the moment.
“The letter, solicitations and general process made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views,” Shotwell wrote.
“We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism,” she said, citing three Starlink satellite launches within 37 hours this weekend, as well as the first Starship orbital launch attempt.
An anonymous employee called Shotwell’s email “tone-deaf” while explaining that their scathing letter was the result of a “month of dedicated hard work and soliciting feedback to try to make sure that we got as much input as possible.”
Elon Musk is known for his sometimes controversial tweets and statements. His latest attempt to purchase Twitter for about US$44 billion has caused mixed feelings among the social media’s employees.
On Musk’s end, he said the acquisition is his effort to bring back free speech as well as possibly reinstate former US President, Trump’s disabled account.
His inability to handle criticism from his own employees says a lot about the one who wants to bring back free speech.