Elon Musk is relaxing his remote work mandate at Twitter after many employees opted to quit rather than continue in his “hardcore” office environment

Musk, who had previously said he was firmly against remote work, sent a follow-up email Thursday softening his tone. “All that is required for approval is that your manager takes accountability for you making an excellent contribution,” he wrote, adding that employees should have face-to-face meetings with their peers at least once a month.

Musk asked employees Wednesday to formally declare their willingness to continue working at the company — a commitment that would include “long, high-intensity hours.” Employees have until 5 p.m. Eastern Thursday on Thursday to fill out a Google form.

The form contained only one possible answer: “Yes”. Anyone who did not accept the form by the deadline was told they would be leaving the company with three months’ severance pay.

According to people familiar with the matter, key employees were brought into meetings as the deadline neared to hear pitches about Twitter’s future. Musk also brought back executives, including one from Twitter’s trust and safety team, and turned them off to try to get employees to stay, one of the people said.

Musk’s ultimatum came less than two weeks after he laid off 50% of Twitter’s workforce, or roughly 3,700 employees. Many Twitter employees consulted attorneys this week to determine what to do. The form contained almost no details about the severance packages, and it wasn’t immediately clear if employees would receive legal protection that would allow them to earn stock awards or maintain insurance coverage.

Musk later sent a follow-up email about remote work, according to a screenshot viewed by Bloomberg. “Any manager who falsely claims that someone who reports to him is doing an excellent job or that a particular role is essential, remote or not, will be removed from the company.”