The Federal Government has a lot of chatter on the social networking website, including from Musk
The Email: Musk’s Fork in the Road: Making the Fed Workforce More Like a Fork-In-the-Rad
The federal government is taking a cue from Musk, who has just one week in his new job to figure it out. Musk took over the social media platform and his team tried to reduce the number of government employees and make them loyal to the president.
On Tuesday, federal employees received an email that mirrors the “Fork in the Road” missive sent to Twitter (now X) staff shortly after Musk bought the company in 2022. If they don’t want to return to the office five days a week and commit to the culture of excellence, they must resign by February 6. Those who resign will continue to get paid and receive benefits until September according to the memo.
The email states that employees who are loyal, trustworthy and strive for excellence should make up the federal workforce. As we move forward, we will have enhanced standards for employees.
The news comes as Musk’s minions take over the US Office of Personnel Management, which acts as a human resources department for the federal workforce. Elon Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. The Office of Personnel Management did not reply to the request.
Musk and some of his advisors, including Trump’s newly appointed David Sacks used a similar strategy on the internet. About a week after the acquisition was complete, Musk laid off half the workforce. Sacks helped advise him on which teams and people would be cut.
About two weeks later, remaining employees received an email with the subject line “A Fork in the Road.” Musk said they would need to be extremely hardcore in order to realize his vision. Working long hours at high intensity is what this meant. He noted that “only exceptional performance” would receive “a passing grade.” Employees were asked to opt into this vision via a web form. The person who failed to do so by the next day would be laid off. Thousands of Twitter employees would later sue, arguing that they were not paid their full severance. Musk was able to get the suit dismissed.
We all are shaking our heads in disbelief at how familiar this is. “Except, the federal government and its employees have specific laws in terms of spending, hiring, and firing.”
Elon Musk, 48, Was Sleared on Twitter in 2022, When Ron Baron and I Were Out Of The House
During busy periods, Musk slept on the factory floor. “It was my primary residence,” he claimed during an interview with Ron Baron in 2022. He said the move was strategic, as he wanted employees to see him. “This is important because if the team thinks their leader is off somewhere having a good time, drinking Mai Tais on a tropical island, which I definitely could have been doing … since the team could see me sleeping on the floor during shift change, they knew I was there, and that made a huge difference, they gave it their all.”
The dream of a leader drinking cocktails on a tropical island reappeared in the spring of 2022 after Musk became their biggest shareholder. Musk said in a text message to Calacanis that Parag was on a 10-day vacation in Hawaii. At the time, Musk had been toying with the idea of joining Twitter’s board of directors, but was growing increasingly frustrated with Agrawal. He doubted the two could work together.
Elon Musk has told multiple people that he has been sleeping at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headquarters in Washington, DC, WIRED has learned, as he works to exercise control over the federal government. DOGE is based out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, just steps from the White House.
At an exclusive black-tie dinner hosted by the Alfalfa Club last week, Musk told associates that he had been invited to stay in the White House itself in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Musk’s lieutenant Steve Davis, CEO of the Boring Company, who has reportedly been recruiting staff to work at DOGE, also temporarily moved into Twitter HQ with his wife and newborn baby.
