Tech billionaire Elon Musk shared on Monday that federal workers who haven’t yet returned to the office will be placed on administrative leave this week.
The announcement from Musk comes after President Donald Trump said last month that federal employees must return to their offices “or be terminated.” The move targeted those who began working from home following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the pandemic.
In a post on X, his social media site, Musk wrote that the administration was holding firm on the order from Trump.
“Those who ignored President Trump’s executive order to return to work have now received over a month’s warning,” Musk said. “Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.”
Musk shared his thoughts in response to a post from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who said in his own post that government agencies were only filling half of their available workspaces.
“Not a single government agency is occupying even HALF of their office space. Their checks come from WE THE PEOPLE,” Norman wrote in a post that featured his interview on Fox News.
In January, Trump said that he believed very few federal employees would return to the office, and because of this, the “government will get smaller and more efficient.”
The Office of Personnel Management has been working with federal workers as Trump continues to implement changes. Those who didn’t want to return to in-person work were also offered buyout plans that included pay through September of this year.
Over the weekend, federal employees were also asked by OPM to detail what they accomplished last week. Musk said that failure to reply to the request would be taken as resignation.