Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has claimed employees of the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are working for 120 hours a week, triggering an online debate over work culture.
Elon Musk wrote: “DOGE is working 120 hours a week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours a week. That is why they are losing so fast.”
Advocating long working hours, Musk further said: “Very few in the bureaucracy actually work [on] the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!” “Working the weekend is a superpower,” the X boss, who co-chairs DOGE, said.
Musk made the comment while reacting to a post by an X user who appreciated DOGE and US President Donald Trump-run administration for exposing fraud linked to the previous administration.
One Jason wrote: “They’re finding massive waste, fraud and abuse of our tax dollars… in the first two weeks!”
X Users Slam Musk
However, a large number of X users slammed Musk over his comment and called him ‘crazy’.
One of the internet users said: “The daily office hrs is 18.14 hrs. You have, 5.46hrs remaining daily to drive home to office, to take a bath, to eat and to sleep, to take care of your family. I am hard to believe this post. [sic.]”
“This is crazy!!” another said.
“Doge in [is] made up of aliens and robots and Elon! Or, Elon says anything to make himself look better,” said another netizen.
Earlier, Indian entrepreneurs like L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy had promoted working for longer hours to boost productivity, triggering debates.
SN Subrahmanyan had suggested employees should work for 90 hours per week while Murthy called for a 70-hour work week, inviting massive criticisms online.
Musk Joins Federal Govt.
Meanwhile, Musk has officially joined the federal government, media reports said.
Trump made Musk a “special government employee,” a White House official told USA Today.
What Is DOGE?
Trump had created a non-governmental agency named DOGE (U.S. Department of Government Efficiency) under the executive order.
The DOGE team is tasked to identify fraud and waste in the government.
(With inputs from IBNS)
