Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently commented that employees at the Department of Government Efficiency work 120 hours a week, sparking criticism on social media. The tech billionaire described working weekends as a "superpower," adding that bureaucratic opponents are "losing so fast" because they only work 40 hours a week. He further remarked “Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it's like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!” in a post on X.
The post received a strong reaction from the netizens, with some users calling him a "terrible boss." One person criticised the DOGE website for being empty, despite employees reportedly working 120 hours a week. Another user presented figures showing that if employees take two days off, they would have to work 24 hours on all other days, commenting, "If it's shift work it's great. But you have them sleep at the office 24/7. They should work in shifts and have 2 days off. This is not healthy and you can't have older highly experienced people in this kind of setup, only 20-something singles."
Another user wrote that working this long is inhuman, “You do remember they are human… right? There is more to life then working. We should have a society that values human free time more, to give us time to explore, love, make art, have fun, stay together with our loved ones.”
“If overtime were authorized for salaried employees that might look a little bit different on paper. Whether it looked different in terms of butts and seats is an entirely different question but on paper? At least 200 hour weeks, on the reg,” added a third user.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has been appointed by former President Trump to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and stated that the department's goal is to eliminate inefficiency and corruption in the government. DOGE is tasked with implementing Trump’s vision of a smaller, more efficient government by July 4 next year, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Musk's comments on weekly work hours come amidst a larger debate over work expectations, following controversial remarks by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy. Subrahmanyan faced massive backlash for suggesting employees work 90 hours a week.