The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, headed by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, says it is hiring “a very small number” of full-time, salaried positions.
The solicitation, posted on the Musk-owned social media platform X, comes after the group already said in November that it had received thousands of applications from job-seekers eager to assist with “unglamorous cost-cutting.” DOGE — which is not an official federal department — was created by President-elect Donald Trump in November to provide recommendations on how to slash billions in federal spending.
In the same post, DOGE said Musk and Ramaswamy would only review the top 1% of applicants, and that it was exclusively seeking “super high-IQ” individuals willing to work more than 80 hours per week deciding how to eliminate costs.
In late December, DOGE issued a new call for applicants with human resource, information technology and finance backgrounds. On Tuesday, the department said it is also hiring for additional roles, although it provided few details about the jobs or the type of work experience it wants from applicants.
“Recruiting for a very small number of full-time salaried Software Engineers and InfoSec Engineers,” the department said, with the latter referring to information security engineers.
How do I apply?
Interested applicants should send DOGE a direct message on X, including “a few bullet points demonstrating exceptional ability, and your cell phone number,” the post said.
DOGE has not indicated any salary ranges for the open positions. Additionally, it’s unclear who will pay employees’ salaries, such as whether these will be taxpayer-funded roles or paid by Musk or Ramaswamy.
It’s also unclear where DOGE’s funding will stem from, such as whether it will be supported by taxpayers or through private support. For instance, President Ronald Reagan’s cost-cutting effort, the Grace Commission, was funded via a private foundation created to support it.
DOGE did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment on the hiring process or workers’ salaries.
Here is a full list of roles DOGE has said it’s hiring for.
- Super high-IQ “small-government revolutionaries” to work on “unglamorous cost-cutting”
- Full-time, salaried software engineers
- Information security engineers
- Human resource professionals
- Information technology professionals
- Finance professionals
DOGE has publicly taken aim at Planned Parenthood and other organizations that it calls “progressive groups” that receive about $300 million in federal funding annually, as well as international organizations that get $1.5 billion grants, among other groups, according to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece authored by Musk and Ramaswamy late last year.
They referred to themselves as “outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees” whose aim is simply to cut costs.
Megan Cerullo
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
