Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly developing software to automate the firing of federal employees, a contentious step in government downsizing efforts.
According to reports, DOGE engineers have been modifying AutoRIF (Automated Reduction in Force), a tool initially developed by the Department of Defence over two decades ago to speed staff cutbacks.
AutoRIF: The Software Behind the Layoffs
Recent AutoRIF updates indicate that DOGE operatives, including Riccardo Biasini, a former Tesla engineer, have been refining their capabilities within the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) internal systems.
Screenshots of the OPM enterprise GitHub system indicate that the software is being actively modified, with Biasini's name appearing on important repository changes. One file description reportedly states, "Remove obsolete versions of autorif."
Significant Layoffs and Systematic Errors
The federal workforce has already experienced significant layoffs, with around 95,000 government jobs eliminated. So far, HR officials have manually determined these layoffs by analyzing employee registers and prioritizing probationary workers—those recently hired, promoted or reassigned—due to their weak civil service protections. The deployment of AI-driven automation is expected to boost termination rates, raising questions about the accuracy and justice of these dismissals.
The potential implementation of AutoRIF has increased worry among government employees, especially as reports of essential personnel being mistakenly terminated emerge. Notable errors have already occurred, like the mass firing of 300 workers in charge of supervising the country's nuclear stockpile, who were then quickly reinstated.
Similarly, numerous Department of Agriculture employees who were working to address a bird flu outbreak had their terminations reversed. The Indian Health Service narrowly avoided losing 950 employees after a last-minute intervention by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
AI-Driven Job Evaluations and Oversight Concerns
Adding to these concerns, a recent email from the OPM required government employees to summarize their weekly accomplishments in five bullet points. Reports suggest that this data will be analyzed by an undisclosed AI model and determine their necessity within the agency.
While OPM requirements mandate human verification of automated decisions, it remains unclear how much oversight will be exercised as DOGE moves forward with its sweeping workforce reductions. Critics argued that automating these terminations will compound current flaws, making the process even more impersonal and potentially unfair.