Elon Musk has only been in his role in the new government of President Donald Trump for a week, but the American federal government is all the Twitter playbook to manage expenditure and staff. Just as Musk did when he took over the social media platform, Trump's team tries to drastically reduce the number of government employees and to ensure that those who continue to be loyal to the president's agenda.
On Tuesday, federal employees received an e -mail who reflected the “fork” missief who was sent to Twitter (now X) staff shortly after Musk had bought the company in 2022. The E -mail asks federal employees to resign on 6 February if they do not wish to return to the office five days a week and commit themselves to a culture of excellence. Those who choose to resign continue to pay according to the memo and receive benefits until September.
“The federal workforce must consist of employees who are reliable, loyal, reliable and who strive for excellence in their daily work,” reads the E -mail, which was later published on the website of the American Office of Personnel Management. “Employees will be subject to improved standards of suitability and behavior as we continue.”
The news comes when the Minions of Musk take over the American personnel management office, which acts as a personnel department for the federal workforce. Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Wired. The Office of Personnel Management also did not respond to a request for comments.
Musk and his advisers, including Trump's newly appointed AI and Crypto Tsar David Sacks, used a remarkably comparable strategy on Twitter. About a week after the acquisition was completed, Musk fired half of the workforce. Sacks helped him advise on which teams and people would be cut.
About two weeks later, remaining employees received an e -mail with the subject line 'in the way'. Musk said that they should be “extremely hardcore” to realize his vision on Twitter 2.0. This meant “working long hours at high intensity.” He noted that 'only exceptional performance' 'would receive a passing figure. Employees were asked to choose via a web form in this vision. Everyone who did not do this the next day would be dismissed for three months, Musk said. Thousands of Twitter employees would sue later, with the argument that they did not pay their full severance payment. Musk was eventually able to reject the suit.
“We all shake our head unbelieving about how well -known all this feels,” says Yao Yue, a former chief engineer at Twitter. “In addition to, the federal government and its employees have specific laws in terms of expenditure, hiring and shooting.”
In this case, federal employees are asked to send an e -mail with the word “dismissal” in the subject line in the next 10 days. “The purification of the federal government of dedicated career providers will have enormous, unintended consequences that will cause chaos for the Americans dependent on a functioning federal government,” Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the greatest Union of Federal employees, said in a statement. “This offer should not be considered voluntary. Between the flurry of anti-worker executive orders and policy measures, it is clear that the purpose of the Trump government is to turn the federal government into a poisonous environment where employees cannot stay, even if they want. “
