Steve Wozniak Blasts Musk’s DOGE Over ‘Sledgehammer’ Approach To Government Layoffs

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has criticized Elon Musk’s handling of mass layoffs under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump-era initiative aimed at cutting administrative costs. While Wozniak supports reducing inefficiencies, he argues that Musk’s aggressive firings are poorly planned.

“Just mass firings … It’s not good for a business to run that way,” Wozniak told CNBC at a tech conference. He suggested that instead of eliminating jobs indiscriminately, the government should take a more strategic approach, analyzing inefficiencies “bit by bit. ” Comparing Musk’s actions to using a “sledgehammer” instead of a “scalpel,” Wozniak warned that such drastic cuts could do more harm than good.

Beyond DOGE, Wozniak also accused Musk and Trump of “bullying” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Since Trump’s return to office, U.S.-Ukraine relations have worsened, with the administration strengthening ties with Russia while sidelining Ukraine from diplomatic discussions. The situation escalated after Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a “Russian disinformation bubble,” prompting Trump to label him a “dictator without elections.”

Wozniak, who has Ukrainian heritage, said he has always supported the “little guy” over powerful figures like Musk and Trump. He also suggested that his criticism of Tesla may have led to his X (formerly Twitter) account being frozen.

Additionally, Wozniak criticized Tesla’s evolving design, calling its user interface “the worst in the world.” He also raised safety concerns about the company’s Full Self-Driving and Autopilot features. Neither Tesla nor X responded to CNBC’s request for comment, but Wozniak’s remarks reflect growing concerns about Musk’s leadership—both in government efficiency efforts and within the tech industry.