DOGE Recruits Airbnb Co-Founder to Fix Broken Federal Retirement System
- Joe Gebbia's first DOGE project focuses on digitizing the federal retirement process.
- The Office of Personnel Management says an early effort reduced processing time from months to two days.
- Some Airbnb hosts are removing listings in protest of Gebbia's DOGE involvement.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia has revealed his first project as part of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): revamping the federal retirement process.
Gebbia announced Thursday on X that he would use his design expertise to transform the paper-heavy system into a digital experience.
This comes nearly two weeks after The New York Times first reported Gebbia's involvement with DOGE.
Joe Gebbia's federal retirement project
Chuck Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), said in a video testimonial reposted by Gebbia that the administration challenged the agency to "process a retiree, end to end, digitally, without printing anything to paper" within one week.
An agency employee featured in the same video said the process had already been reduced to two days.
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"Since leaving my operating role at Airbnb in 2022, I've been looking for the next digital design challenge. And I can think of few more important ones than volunteering to improve the user experience within our government," Gebbia wrote on X.
The OPM has faced pressure for years to modernize its systems. Some retirees previously waited more than 90 days to receive their benefits.
Last summer, the agency launched a pilot program for a new online retirement application platform.
Airbnb hosts protest Gebbia's DOGE involvement
Gebbia retains his seat on Airbnb's board and joined Tesla's board in September 2022. His involvement with DOGE has drawn criticism from some Airbnb hosts.
Several hosts told the San Francisco Standard they have removed their listings in protest. One DC-area host said they could "no longer be an Airbnb host in good faith."
Airbnb responded by emphasizing that Gebbia has not been involved in daily operations since 2022.
"Airbnb has always been about more than the viewpoint of any one person. Our community is made up of millions of hosts and hundreds of millions of guests from all walks of life."
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