Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) turned a short lived authorities group on January 20 by way of President Donald Trump’s govt order. In simply two weeks, Musk has led the division to undertake a Silicon Valley-like startup mentality in direction of its work hours, with Musk just lately bragging that DOGE is placing in extra-long hours because it tries to chop again on authorities paperwork.
In a Sunday publish on X, Musk wrote that “DOGE is working 120 hour[s] per week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours per week. That’s the reason they’re shedding so quick.”
Associated: Elon Musk Warns Tesla Employees They will Be Sleeping on the Manufacturing Line to Construct Its New Mass-Market EV
The day prior, Musk wrote on X that “Only a few within the paperwork really work the weekend, so it is just like the opposing staff simply leaves the sphere for two days! Working the weekend is a superpower.”
A 120-hour workweek means 17 hours and eight minutes of labor daily, together with Saturday and Sunday. Based on information for December from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the everyday U.S. worker works a median of 34.3 hours per week.
DOGE is working 120 hour per week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours per week. That’s the reason they’re shedding so quick. https://t.co/dXtrL5rj1K
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2025
DOGE is not the primary group the place Musk has carried out workweeks longer than common. When Musk took management of Twitter in October 2022, he advised employees that they need to count on to work 80 hours per week and obtain fewer perks like free meals. Lower than half of Twitter’s 4,000 workers selected to remain, with the bulk choosing three months’ severance as a substitute.
It is not simply Twitter. Employees at Tesla, the place Elon Musk is CEO, have reported sleeping on the ground after 12-hour shifts after working six or seven days per week.
Musk elaborated on how he put within the hours on an April episode of the podcast, In Good Firm, hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of $1.6 trillion Norges Financial institution.
“I’ve accomplished many, many stretches of 100-hour weeks, the place roughly six hours per day is sleeping,” Musk mentioned. “I’d not suggest that. That is for emergencies.”
Musk mentioned that he put in these 100-hour weeks throughout the early days of his startups when he would sleep below his desk and work “each waking hour.” He outlined these days as stretches of ultra-hard work and mentioned he might maintain the dash for just a few years at a time.
Associated: Elon Musk Has Resorted to Sleeping at Tesla’s Manufacturing facility to Attempt to Get it Again on Observe
Roi Ginat, CEO of Limitless AI, advised Enterprise Insider that whereas he routinely works 85 hours per week, working a staff “too arduous for too lengthy” is a recipe for “fatigue and burnout.”
“I consider that Elon’s tweet is about an effort, not a brand new customary at DOGE,” Ginat acknowledged.
DOGE isn’t a authorities company however a bunch created to work alongside the White Home to convey down prices. Musk is aiming to chop a minimum of $1 trillion from the federal price range by way of DOGE. It is unclear how many individuals are working alongside him, however a December announcement from Trump exhibits that Katie Miller, the previous deputy press secretary for the Division of Homeland Safety throughout Trump’s first time period, is a part of the DOGE staff.
