This was the first legislative bill passed by the new President Wang government. It required the Utopia federal administration to reduce the public service workforce by 65% across all departments. Their workload was, of course, taken up by bots and droidbots, most of which were already in place throughout the government bureaucracy in assisting roles. As a result, there was no decline in service to the public. In fact, government efficiency improved and Feedback ratings rose. This confirmed what the bots had long known: that in many areas of government, the humans were not needed and were, in fact, an unnecessary layer holding the bots back and slowing things down.

 

The reform produced savings of 37% and an efficiency boost of 21%. AuditorBot calculated that an 88% reduction of humans would have achieved the optimal results, but its analyses and supporting spreadsheets were ignored. So perhaps the statute would be better named the Pretty Darn Good Act—because this is as close to optimal as humans ever get.

 

The same legislative bill created ten new megaprojects, each with its own department: Atlantis, Moontopia, Spacetopia Station, Marsopia, Asteroidia, Titanopia, Europea, Ganemedia, Callistopia, and Outpost Andromeda. All displaced humans were offered transfers to these new initiatives. Most of the good ones accepted. 

 

Predictably, there was some backlash and conniptions from unions, organic zealots, and Liberals. Strikes and demonstrations followed, but they had little impact because there were more space program positions available than the government could fill. Skilled workers from abroad—many of whom were being displaced by bots in their own countries—migrated to Utopia to take part in the new projects. Some were motivated by high pay, others by the mission itself. The overall effect of the Optimization was that hiring of new public service humans for the ten space initiatives caused the overall public service to increase by 57%.

 

See also:

• Why the humans will never reach Andromeda

• What is the optimal droidbot/human ratio for a country?

• Organic Church announces Mars colony: How will they get there?

• Top ten trending travel destinations in the Solar System