Elon Musk sparks workweek fire, claims DOGE employees grind 120 hrs a week

The debate over gruelling work weeks shows no signs of slowing down, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk adding fuel to the fire by stating via X (formerly Twitter) that employees at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) clock an exhausting 120 hours a week, which is equivalent to approximately 17 hours a day.

“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 claims.

While responding to a post on X that lauded the new US administration for uncovering fraud and misuse of tax dollars in its first two weeks, Musk said he backs the long work week by stating further that working weekends are a ‘superpower’.

In India, when Infosys founder Narayana Murthy opined that Indians must work 70-hours a week in order to grow and be competitive at a global stage, it opened a Pandora's Box. It was met with widespread backlash from citizens in India voicing unreasonable hours to impact their health. Critics also countered that this approach would not do any good to the workforce in the long run and suggested that India should focus on harnessing its unique strengths for sustainable growth.

Following Murthy’s comments on long work weeks, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman and MD S. N. Subrahmanyan (SNS) took it even further in a viral video. When asked why the company still makes employees work Saturdays, despites being one of the largest conglomerates, he replied with a provocative jab, “What do you do sitting at home (on Sundays)? How long can stare at your wives, how long can wives stare at their husbands, come on, get to the office and start working.”

Among the famous faces, Deepika Padukone, a passionate advocate for mental health, were among the prominent figures to fiercely criticise SNS' statement, and called it ‘shocking’ to see people in such senior roles making such indifferent remarks.

Earlier in January, Anand Mahindra, Mahindra Group chairman, offered a fresh perspective, passionately supporting work-life balance and highlighting that it is the quality of work that matters, not the quantity. “I think this debate is heading in the wrong direction. My point is that we need to focus on the quality of work, not on the quantity. It’s not about 70 hours or 90 hours. What output are you producing? Even if it’s 10 hours, you can change the world in 10 hours,” remarked Anand Mahindra.