Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter

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Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter
A tourist photographs the sunrise in Lisbon, Portugal, ranked as the top city in the world for remote workers.Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

Hi, welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories. I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider.

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On the agenda today:

But first: Daylight-saving time ended today — and clocks fell back an hour. But some doctors say it's time to abolish the practice once and for all. Below, our health correspondent Hilary Brueck takes us inside the debate.


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The case against daylight-saving time

It's the November tradition everybody loves to hate, Insider's Hilary Brueck writes. Today, we're turning back the clocks, putting an end to daylight-saving time for the year. Evenings will get darker earlier, reminding us winter's almost here.

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Senators on both sides of the political aisle want to do away with this annual switch back to standard time — and make daylight-saving time permanent in the spring.

Sleep experts, however, say that's the wrong way to go about ending clock switching. It turns out that standard time is great for our bodies. By losing a little light in the evening, we're gaining sunshine in the morning, properly aligning our devices with our biological clocks.

Why doctors are ready to ditch daylight-saving time — for good.


Now, on to this week's top stories.


The conflict between Twitter's old guard and new owner

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Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter
Patrick Pleul/Getty Images; Vicky Leta/Insider

Late Thursday, Elon Musk began his much-anticipated mass layoffs at Twitter. Staff flocked to social media to share the news that they'd been let go — including an eight-month-pregnant staffer who said she was locked out of her company laptop. The layoffs are part of a new culture that Musk has unleashed at the company.

Speaking with Insider, one employee said that up until all the "drama" around the sale, "there was a staff hierarchy, to be sure, but the culture was quite democratic," with an emphasis on "genuine transparency." But now, this person said, the company's new workaholic culture is "psychologically unsafe" and has "Elon's stamp all over it."

Go inside the culture war at Twitter.


China is blowing up its own economy

Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter
Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images; iStock; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

China, as we knew it, is no more, Insider's Linette Lopez writes. And the new one is more dangerous than we've ever seen.

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The country with a fast-growing economy is gone, leaving behind a nation with withering wealth and an increasingly authoritarian government controlled by President Xi Jinping.

China is witnessing a teetering property sector and an aging population, but these aren't just local threats — they could have significant ramifications for the rest of the world.

How China could bring down the entire global economy.


Wall Street's most exclusive club is about to get more members

Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter
Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Goldman Sachs is gearing up to invite a select group of employees to become partners. If you're one of the lucky few who get the phone call, you can look forward to a slew of perks, including a salary of about $1 million, a share of a special bonus pool, and access to fee-free investment funds.

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What happens when you're made a Goldman partner.


Gen Z's had enough

Layoffs, tight deadlines, and working around the clock: Inside Elon Musk's new culture at Twitter
Marianne Ayala/Insider

Contrary to what the internet says, Gen Z workers aren't lazy, entitled, or looking to slack off — they're simply choosing to reject some of the practices that previous generations were forced to accept.

Surveys have found that Gen Zers are less likely than their elders to go along with long hours, overbearing bosses, or a lack of boundaries between the personal and the professional. Put simply, they want something better than previous generations had and aren't afraid to seek it out.

How Gen Z is shaping the workplace.

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This week's quote:

"When I talk to these same patients after height-lengthening surgery, they feel like they're on the same playing field with everyone else. They're happier, they have a lot more confidence, and they feel like they're able to conquer a lot more than before."

  • Shahab Mahboubian, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in limb-lengthening surgeries. Read his story here.

More of this week's top reads:


Plus: Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your weekdays by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here tomorrow.


Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Jordan Parker Erb, Hallam Bullock, and Lisa Ryan. Sign up for more Insider newsletters here.

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