Social Security Announces Workforce and Organization Plans
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: February 28, 2025
Consistent with recent executive orders issued by the White House, the Social Security Administration will continue to implement efficiencies and reduce costs, with a renewed focus on mission critical work for the American people.
The agency plans to reduce the size of its bloated workforce and organizational structure, with a significant focus on functions and employees who do not directly provide mission critical services. Social Security recently set a staffing target of 50,000, down from the current level of approximately 57,000 employees. Rumor of a 50 percent reduction is false.
Initial steps to reduce the workforce included offering a limited number of employees the opportunity to leave the agency under the Deferred Resignation Program and Voluntary Early Retirement (VERA).
Yesterday, the agency announced to all employees that Social Security would soon implement agency-wide organizational restructuring that will include significant workforce reductions. The announcement includes offering Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) to all employees on a first come first serve basis and expanding VERA to all employees. Both VERA and VSIP require employees to opt in and to separate from the agency by specific dates.
Social Security anticipates that much of the staff reductions needed to reach the target of 50,000 will come from retirement, VSIP, and resignation. Additional reductions will come from reduction-in-force (RIF) actions that could include abolishment of organizations and positions. RIF also can include directed reassignments from one position to another position in the agency. Agencies are required to submit their RIF plans to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) by March 13, 2025. No date has been set when a RIF might begin after OPM approves the plan.
SSA has operated with a regional structure consisting of 10 offices, which is no longer sustainable. The agency will reduce the regional structure in all agency components down to four regions. The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient. SSA will now have seven Deputy Commissioner level organizations.
These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing non-mission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions. Also supporting this priority is looking for efficiencies and other opportunities to reduce costs across all spending categories, including information technology and contractor spending. SSA is committed to ensure this plan has a positive effect on the delivery of Social Security services.
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Reeba
Who wrote this blog? Why would SS itself say : “its bloated workforce.” Obviously some kind of PR gaslighting regarding the proposed cuts to federal agencies that help people.
Sr C.
I completely agree. This language is coming straight from a billionaire’s “Bloated” comes from someone who doesn’t have to worry about social security. How dare you do this to our elderly who have worked their/our whole lives. The staff at SS do a GREAT job and we need more offices and longer hours and more staff as the baby boomers age and retire! No we are not lazy we earned this and paid our share!
Kathleen G.
It is ludicrous that a South African is now running the United States and DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY FROM THE INSIDE OUT!! I am a senior on Social Security that I earned over my lifetime and I fully expect I will be screwed out of it!! It is a shame any American should have to kiss the Butt of a South African such as President Elon Musk AND I FEEL TERRIBLE THAT SSA EMPLOYEES WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS BECAUSE OF A JERK WHO KNOWS NOTHING OF BEING AN AMERICAN!! God Bless you all, hard working civil servants and may God Bless our United States.
Sharon
Is the Grand Junction CO SSA office closing or is that location moving to a different building?
Susan S.
What a bunch of propaganda! How does diminishing access to SS offices by reducing the number of them make things better? Do you people even KNOW how long it takes to get an appointment, or the hassle of driving and sitting? Or how long it takes to get someone to answer the phone? How long it takes to resolve a problem? And you think you’ve got a bloated staff! This is not
efficiency — this is stupid!
SRC
Totally agree! I completely agree. This language is coming straight from a billionaire’s “Bloated” comes from someone who doesn’t have to worry about social security. How dare you do this to our elderly who have worked their/our whole lives. The staff at SS do a GREAT job and we need more offices and longer hours and more staff as the baby boomers age and retire! And don’t fire them saying poor performance, they are magnificent!
Pat K.
Who are the people over 165 years old collecting SSA?
Patti J.
There aren’t any. Musk and his minions don’t know what they are talking about.
Georgia
This was incorrect information that was put out there on social media and spread like wildfire. It was corrected and re-buffed by SSA to let everyone know that there were no dead people receiving benefits. But I guess that info didn’t spread as fast as lies.
Joanna L.
I need immediate help.
I can prove SSA employee fraud.
Please get back to me as soon as possible. I have been trying to reach someone in the investigation units, but the daily staff changes are making it impossible. PLEASE get back to me.
Joseph P.
I’m happy to see reductions in the federal workforce. I personally witnessed 40 years of wasteful spending in my federal career, first as a civilian working with the Dept. of the Navy (DOD) and next with the Census Bureau (Dept. of Commerce).
Justina
How will ssa staff reductions help us? Response wait times are terrible now. If offices are closed, will the remaining regional locations be close enough for us to drive to?
Sharon W.
These “executive orders” are completely unfounded. How is SS workforce “bloated”?
Sal R.
I completely agree. This language is coming straight from a billionaire’s “Bloated” comes from someone who doesn’t have to worry about SS. How dare you do this to our elderly who have worked their/our whole lives. The staff at SS do a GREAT job and we need more offices and longer hours and more staff as the baby boomers age and retire! No we are not lazy we earned this and paid our share!
Ben L.
The administration is wrong. You and the recipients of SSA are being held in the claws of a fascist authoritarian govt. sham Doge leader.
Thomas L.
Yes, (cue the sarcastic undertones) because the Social Security Administration is definitely not the most efficient agency, and by reducing its workforce by nearly 7,000 people, you’re jeopardizing funding to the millions of beneficiaries who rely on it. I’m not sure why you would want to tear up SSA in this way when you know that SSA is a crucial part of the safety net for America’s most vulnerable citizens.