Additional Coverage:
- Elon Musk’s demand for federal workers’ productivity emails hits snag with clogged inbox (irishstar.com)
Federal Workers Swamp Government Inboxes with Productivity Reports
A new initiative requiring federal employees to submit weekly productivity summaries has run into technical difficulties, with overflowing inboxes causing emails to bounce back. The program, spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), mandates that employees list their top five weekly achievements in a bullet-point email.
The Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed that emails intended for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) are being returned due to full inboxes. Employees have been instructed to utilize an alternative OPM email address.
The initiative, which began last month, has been met with confusion and pushback. Initial warnings of potential termination for non-compliance were followed by a White House statement clarifying that agency heads have the final say on implementation.
This led to a range of responses, with some agencies opting for internal circulation of reports, others making submissions optional, and some, including the FBI, State Department, and Pentagon, advising staff to ignore the request entirely due to security concerns. Adding to the technological challenges, NASA developed a dedicated app for its employees to submit their reports securely.
The situation has drawn criticism from union leaders. Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, accused both Elon Musk and the Trump administration of demonstrating “utter disdain for federal employees.” The new reporting requirement coincides with ongoing job cuts as part of DOGE’s efforts to streamline the government.