MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk's cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work. MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk's cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work. “Ultimately, the outcome was the agency was left broken and understaffed,” said Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official. Starting in March, thousands of GSA employees left the agency as part of programs that encouraged them to resign or take early retirement. The administration slashed GSA’s headquarters staff by 79%, its portfolio managers by 65% and facilities managers by 35%, according to a federal official briefed on the situation.