70 hours, 90 hours? Musk says work for 120 hours a week!

Working the weekend is a superpower, writes Tesla CEO and DOGE head Elon Musk on X. Internet reacts

Hyderabad: Even as we were slowly digesting Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and L&T’s SN Subrahmanyan’s comments on long working hours, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reignited the debate all over again.

In just 2 weeks of taking charge at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the tech billionaire declared that DOGE was working nearly 120 hours a week and the bureaucratic opponents were ‘losing so fast’ because of their 40-hour-a-week work rule.

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“DOGE is working 120 hour a week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours a week. That is why they are losing so fast,” Musk wrote on X, responding to a post targeting Democrats.

DOGE is working 120 hour a week. Our bureaucratic opponents optimistically work 40 hours a week. That is why they are losing so fast. https://t.co/dXtrL5rj1K

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 2, 2025

“Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!” he wrote in another post.

Very few in the bureaucracy actually work the weekend, so it’s like the opposing team just leaves the field for 2 days!

Working the weekend is a superpower 😂 https://t.co/VgyBk1nJIO

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2025

This move from Musk has gained widespread criticism on the internet with people calling him a ‘terrible boss’.

“120/24 =5, so hopefully with doge employees taking weekends off, they have to work full 24 hours a day for 5 days straight. So… Doge in made up of aliens and robots and Elon! Or, Elon says anything to make himself look better,” (sic) wrote a user.

“Who wants to work 120 hours a week. Team has no life, no work life balance. And just reducing bottom line by firing everyone and calling every federal worker a fraud. So is it DOGE against federal workers now?,” questioned another.

“It’s hard to be a parent to kids and work on the weekends. At least for normal people without nannies and jets,” another user lamented.

Recently in a video that went viral the L&T chief was heard asking employee to work on Sundays too. “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays. …What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? Come on, get to the office and start working,” he said.

Infosys co-founder too sparked controversy when he called for a 70-hour workweek stating young people need to understand that “we have to work hard and work towards making India number one”.