Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has taken to social media to express his support for the laid-off federal employees and urge them to take advantage of the situation.
Cuban has appealed to former members of the 18F technology group, which worked on US government technology projects and was recently laid off, to form a consulting firm together:
"If you were working at 18F and you got laid off, get together and start a consulting firm. Sooner or later, DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) is going to need you to fix the mess they created. But this time, you're going to set the terms. I'm ready to invest or help."
Cuban's offer came after the General Services Administration (GSA) abruptly closed its 18F technology division, which provided technology solutions to various government agencies. According to Politico, about 70 employees learned of the layoffs at 1 a.m. on Saturday. The 18F team is the creators of Login.gov, a system that provides secure access to services for agencies such as Social Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
18F explained the situation in a statement: "We have worked on hundreds of projects. Our goal is to make government technology not only efficient, but also cost-effective, and protect taxpayer dollars."
The layoffs are seen as a continuation of former President Donald Trump's administration's directive to reduce the federal workforce and cut government spending. In February, 24 18F employees were laid off for the same reason.
Interestingly, the Cuban initiative could create new opportunities for government technologists who have lost their jobs. The effects of DOGE's rapid structural change have caused some problems that even Elon Musk himself acknowledged. "For example, we mistakenly temporarily suspended the Ebola prevention program at USAID," he said on Wednesday.
The big question now is: will the government's laid-off workers take advantage of this opportunity to start their own tech companies? If so, it could be an interesting response to the government's attempts to downsize. If Cuban has his way, the government will one day be forced to buy technology solutions from their company.
One Bluesky user suggested an interesting name for Cuban's new company: "18FU."
