A powerful new software tool developed under Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is set to accelerate mass layoffs across the U.S. federal workforce, just as Musk steps back from the initiative, Reuters reported in an exclusive on Thursday.
The program, a modernized version of the decades-old Pentagon “AutoRIF” (Reduction in Force) system, has been rebranded as the Workforce Reshaping Tool. It promises to drastically reduce the time it takes to process mass layoffs by automating tedious, error-prone manual HR processes used across federal agencies.
With over 260,000 federal workers already laid off, retired early, or bought out since President Trump’s return in January, the system is expected to play a key role in what critics have called an aggressive federal downsizing strategy. Agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs and the IRS are preparing cuts of up to 80,000 and 40% of their staff respectively.
The revamped software enables bulk data upload, real-time collaboration, and rapid analysis of eligibility for dismissal based on factors like seniority, veteran status, and performance. This is a significant improvement over the old version, which allowed only one user at a time and required manual entry of individual personnel records.
Though DOGE claims to have saved $160 billion through cost-cutting measures, few specifics had been disclosed until now about how technology was aiding that effort. The Workforce Reshaping Tool appears to be the first tangible result of DOGE’s mandate.
The timing is critical: the software is being deployed just as legal challenges and employee reinstatements highlight growing concerns over mistakes and fairness in the layoff process. Experts warn that while automation improves speed, it may amplify systemic flaws.
“If you automate bad assumptions into a process, the scale of the error becomes far greater,” said Don Moynihan of the University of Michigan.
Despite Musk’s planned step back to focus on Tesla and his other companies, analysts believe the automation project he set in motion will continue independently — reshaping the future of federal employment.