Elon Musk's DOGE is hiring: Super-high IQ, willing to work 80+ hours per week

In an unusual hiring drive, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, tapped by US President-elect Donald Trump to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are seeking applicants through the social media platform X.

The DOGE account, which has garnered 1.2 million followers since its inception earlier this week, posted a job notice on Thursday, expressing gratitude to the "thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE."

The department, however, made it clear that it is not looking for "more part-time idea generators" but instead seeks "super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting”.

Without outlining required education or experience, DOGE asked applicants to send their résumés via direct message (DM) on X. However, only users with a verified, premium X subscription, costing $8 monthly, can do so.

Musk and Ramaswamy will personally review the "top 1% of applicants," though the criteria for ranking these applicants were not specified.

Compensation for the demanding role is zero, Musk clarified. "Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lots of enemies & compensation is zero. What a great deal!" the billionaire tweeted.

Ramaswamy, a wealthy investor and biotech entrepreneur, echoed the sentiment, contrasting the expected work ethic with that of government bureaucrats.

"That stands in contrast to the many government bureaucrats who: (a) do little or no work, (b) tell people only what they want to hear, & (c) make more money than the value they create,” he wrote on X.

President-elect Trump announced the formation of DOGE on Tuesday, tasking Musk and Ramaswamy with cutting federal spending, slashing excess regulations, and restructuring federal agencies. The department will operate outside the federal government, providing "advice and guidance from outside of government".

Trump has set an ambitious timeline for DOGE's work, aiming for its efforts to conclude by July 4, 2026. Musk has promised that the initiative "will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!"

When queried about the hiring process by Axios, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team praised the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's abilities without commenting on the specifics of the job solicitation.

"As President Trump has said, Elon Musk is a genius, an innovator, and has literally made history by building creative, modern, and efficient systems," said Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson.