Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) turned a brief authorities group on January 20 by means of President Donald Trump’s government 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 put up 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 dropping so quick.”
The day prior, Musk wrote on X that “Only a few within the paperwork truly work the weekend, so it is just like the opposing crew simply leaves the sector for two days! Working the weekend is a superpower.”
A 120-hour workweek means 17 hours and eight minutes of labor day-after-day, together with Saturday and Sunday. Based on knowledge for December from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the standard 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 dropping so quick. https://t.co/dXtrL5rj1K
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2025
DOGE is not the primary group the place Musk has applied workweeks longer than common. When Musk took management of Twitter in October 2022, he advised employees that they need to anticipate to work 80 hours per week and obtain fewer perks like free meals. Lower than half of Twitter’s 4,000 staff 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 finished many, many stretches of 100-hour weeks, the place roughly six hours per day is sleeping,” Musk mentioned. “I might not advocate that. That is for emergencies.”
Musk mentioned that he put in these 100-hour weeks in the course of the early days of his startups when he would sleep underneath his desk and work “each waking hour.” He outlined these days as stretches of ultra-hard work and mentioned he may 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 Infinite AI, advised Enterprise Insider that whereas he routinely works 85 hours per week, working a crew “too onerous for too lengthy” is a recipe for “fatigue and burnout.”
“I imagine that Elon’s tweet is about an effort, not a brand new customary at DOGE,” Ginat acknowledged.
DOGE shouldn’t be a authorities company however a gaggle created to work alongside the White Home to deliver down prices. Musk is aiming to chop a minimum of $1 trillion from the federal funds by means 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 crew.