The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recently revealed that many federal agencies hold more software licenses than they have employees. This includes excess licenses for Microsoft 365, 128 Microsoft Teams accounts and Photoshop, among others many of which are either unused or underutilised, prompting reply from Musk himself.
Musk’s response came after DOGE gave the example of General Services Administration (GSA). He reshared the post, announcing that more savings..
“More of your tax dollars saved!,” he said in a post.
“Most of these items are mundane and may not seem like much individually, but there are millions of minor savings that add up to billions of dollars cumulatively. Ultimately, there will be a trillion+ dollars of waste and fraud eliminated,” he added.
What software licenses are under used
This audit was repeated at the Department of Labor. Initial results:
– 380 Microsoft 365 licenses with zero users
– 128 Microsoft Teams conference room licenses; only installed in 30 rooms
– 250 VSCode licenses; only using 33
– 129 Photoshop licenses; only using 22.
– 5 cybersecurity licenses, each with > 20k seats; DOL headcount is < 15k
Agencies often have more software licenses than employees, and the licenses are often idle (i.e. paid for, but not installed on any computer).
For example, at GSA, with 13,000 employees, there are:
– 37,000 WinZip licenses
– 19,000 training software subscriptions (and multiple parallel training software platforms)
– 7,500 project management software seats for a division with 5,500 employees
– 3 different ticketing systems running in parallel
Fixes are actively in work.
The social media post followed an agency-wide email this week notifying over 12,000 employees at the General Services Administration (GSA) that a “reduction in force” is underway.
According to a draft memo obtained by Fox News Digital, acting GSA Administrator Stephen Ehikian expressed gratitude to those who participated in the “first step” of staff reduction by resigning on Friday.
The memo also outlined the “next step of this process” as part of the Presidential Executive Order titled “Implementing The President’s Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative,” issued by the White House on February 11, 2025.