Elon Musk is obsessed with the global birthrate, but Twitter’s CEO is apparently less interested in supporting his employees’ family planning goals. Father of 10, who had twins in 2021 with an executive in another company.
Twitter has cut employee fertility benefits in half, according to a report from Insider and a tweet from Zoë Schiffer, a journalist. Twitter employees have received up to $80,000 in lifetime coverage for expenses related to fertility treatment, egg and sperm freezing, donor retrieval, surrogacy and/or adopting children.
That benefit is now halved, as employees were informed via an email from third-party provider, Caret. The email reportedly states that beginning January 1, 2023, employees will only have access to $40,000 in coverage. Although $40,000 may sound like a lot, according to Forbes, a single cycle of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment can cost between $15,000 and $30,000.
Usually a person has to go through several rounds of IVF to conceive. Adoption costs vary widely, but can easily end up in the tens-of-thousands of dollars for a private or even international adoption. Surrogacy averages around $100,000, according to Investopedia.
Elon Musk and his various associates have taken advantage of these reproductive techniques in raising their children. Tesla CEO and his first wife Justine Wilson had five children through IVF. The billionaire reportedly used IVF to conceive twins in 2021 with his employee Shivon Zilis, a Neuralink executive.
Musician Claire Boucher (AKA Grimes), Elon Musk’s on-again-off-again romantic partner, used a surrogate for the couple. In addition to his personal hypocrisy, reducing the fertility benefits of Twitter employees is also contrary to what he had previously promised.
Back in July 2022, before he officially owned the company, Elon Musk claimed he would boost childcare benefits for workers at his companies in an effort to ease the burden of the costs of raising children. Although childcare is separate from fertility benefits, it is both a common and costly aspect of having and raising children today.
Elon Musk has publicly promoted the scientifically unfounded idea that the declining birth rate is a threat to humanity and society as we know it. He has repeatedly said that civilization will collapse if people don’t have more children. However, demographers and other experts disagree with Musk’s population theories.
You would think that this kind of deep conviction would come from at least the policies of the many companies she manages. But clearly, his desire to cut costs at Twitter comes first—before the theoretical fate of civilization. Since the beginning of Musk’s reign over the social media platform, he has hollowed out the company’s workforce.
demanded that employees spend more time at their desks, and even reduced rent to try to stay behind as Twitter faltered financially. On top of slashing employee fertility benefits, the company is also reportedly eliminating commuter reimbursement and meal allowances, according to the platformer’s Schiffer. However, coffee and snacks will still be available.