10
Loading video...
By Aliss Higham
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced "significant workforce reductions" as part of an "agencywide organizational restructuring."
Why It Matters
Earlier this week, the Office of Personnel Management advised federal government agencies to submit "reorganization plans" by March 13 and prepare for "reductions in force." The SSA has also announced a number of changes to its operations, including the closure of field offices and internal departments.
Read More on News
The SSA has also been struggling with a 50-year low in staffing, combined with a higher-than-ever number of beneficiaries.
What To Know
In a press release issued on February 27, the SSA confirmed that it would be undertaking workforce reductions through voluntary early retirement for those over 50 years of age who meet certain service requirements, and resignation for other staff members. Employees who take either of these options would be eligible for voluntary separation incentive payments.
The SSA said the "massive reorganizations" would lead to "abolishment of organizations and positions, directed reassignments, and reductions in staffing."
...
In 2022, the last year for which data is available, the SSA had 60,570 employees. Staff numbers had reduced steadily over the preceding 12 years, down from a peak of 70,758 workers in 2010.
Newsweek has contacted the SSA for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
Social Security Staffing Issues
Jeffrey A. Rabin & Associates, a Social Security specialist law firm in Mount Prospect, Illinois, has said that a decline in staffing, combined with a 25 percent rise in beneficiaries over the years, has already led to extended calling wait times, delayed claims processing, and office closures. The firm puts the issues down to budget constraints imposed by Congress—which, it reports, has declined by 19 percent when adjusted for inflation.
In late 2024, prior to the Trump administration, a spokesperson for the SSA told Newsweek that the agency has "reached a 50-year low in staffing, even as the number of customers we serve reaches a new record high each day."
In testimony before Congress on March 21, 2024, former SSA Commissioner Martin O'Malley said that, by the end of the 2024 financial year, the agency would serve 7 million more beneficiaries with 7,000 fewer full-time staff than in FY 2015. O'Malley added that the SSA cannot "keep doing more with less," saying that budget constraints have left the agency at its lowest staffing level in 25 years.
Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works, said the new workforce reductions are likely to impact the delivery of SSA services, and could "deny many Americans access to their hard-earned Social Security benefits."
"The Social Security Administration is already chronically understaffed," Altman said in a statement. "Now the Trump Administration wants to demolish it."
What People Are Saying
Nancy Altman told CBS News: "If people don't take it, then they're going to be constantly looking over their shoulder, looking through their email waiting to see if they get fired. It's going to add stress, chaos and uncertainty."
Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at The Urban Institute, a Washington, D. C.—based think tank, wrote in a piece for Bloomberg: "It is not clear how many SSA's staff will be cut. And reductions to Social Security operations surely will get pushback from many members of Congress, even some Republicans. But the real victims to cuts to an already short-staffed Social Security Administration inevitably will be those who rely on its benefits."
What Happens Next
Exactly how many staff members will be cut from the federal agency is unclear at this time.
Are you a Social Security worker who may be impacted by the staffing cuts? Get in touch with a.higham@newsweek.com
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines