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 The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.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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jo l.
How dare this administration to anything but increase staffing and benefits for medicare. This administration is a joke and a disgrace. Once we get rid of the republicans who are allowing this thru midterm elections and the next prsidential election we will repair Medicare. Also, Musk is a complete disaster of a person. He, too, will be gone never to return. We will defeat them and put democrates back in the whitehouse who actually care about Americans. This administration be damned. They are liers. Who do you think you are fooling? We know these cuts are being made so the millionairs and billionairs can get their tax cuts. It is disgraceful.
Michael P.
If the Social Security was such an obvious problem and had administrative, labor and technical problems so critical to Americans and Democracy.
Then why did the Democrats not do anything when they had the Congress and Senate during Trumps last term? And then they won the Presidency with Biden.
They sure had time and money for every agenda under the sun including funding a stalemate war of a old east bloc soviet country.
Henry L.
As the population of seniors swells, it would be more appropriate to increase staffing and open more offices to meet demand. This idea underpins basic supply and demand and common sense.
George J.
Dear “Administration”
I find it remarkable that you would refer that the current staffing is “BLOATED”, especially when some of the agency’s performance statistics are so poor. According to AARP, the current staffing is already at a 25 year low, and when waiting for an initial Disability Decision, the AVERAGE wait is 228 days. Nation wide, thousands of would-be recipients are dying before even receiving an “Initial Disability Decision”. It seems the “Administration’s” urgent push to eliminate staff is focused on providing funds to pay for the tax cut. Providing services to the public is secondary.
Michael P.
25 year low.
Why did Biden and his Democrat Congress and Senators not boost the system if it was that critical?
Georgia
For people who voted for this, I hope you get everything you voted for. The disinformation by this administration is disgusting, yet it is easily proven incorrect by googling the subject – takes you 5 minutes to know the truth. The disrespect shown by this press release for hard-working government people is sad, yet there are people who will cheer. They would rather believe that SSA staff are lazy, corrupt, wasteful, etc, than to know the truth – we ALREADY have a vigorous dept within SSA that roots out fraud and waste – Office of Inspector General. They already close SSA offices that are underperforming (serve fewer people than average), charge people with fraud (yes, jail time!), and release reports regularly that identify challenges (which lead to change). But when people choose to blindly follow a lunatic and not check the propaganda being released daily, I guess you get what you get.
Megan
With all these cuts, how long will the wait to reach a disability determination take now?
Roxanne
AI is not equipped yet to handle anything correctly. I’m watching it in real-time action. People are not going to like this. Amerikkka will never be great again
Milton H.
I got to a place office at 730am an they open at 900am and what line MAGA voted him in now they wish they didn’t
Milton H.
There’s millions of people look for there SS I got to a place office at 730am an they open at 900am and what line MAGA voted him in now they wish they didn’t
Frustrated
I gave called the national 800 number and beentold 120 mins wait time… I was actually on hold for 4 hours before speaking to a person. Most of the time when I call the local office it says they are very busy and that I should call back at another time and then it disconnects me. I am 55 and have been waiting for more than 2 years on a disability application. You have no idea the impact this process is having on my and my family’s life. So… “bloated”??? I don’t think so. Didn’t think my situation could get worse… thanks Trump and DOGE. Smh
Fed U.
“We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.”
Konstantin Josef Jireček
The agency is at a 50 year low in staffing with higher populations to serve (remember that the baby boom generation wave?) They are planning to consolidate offices and reduce staffing even further. Do you think the people who have been keeping the wheels on this operation will continue to provide the kind of service that our country deserves? Or will they get the kind of service that the new administration thinks the poor, elderly and disabled deserve? I cannot imagine that the already beaten down, overworked and unappreciated staff will be able to continue overcome the hurdles that are constantly being thrown at them every single day. From being bullied by the people who are supposed to be “leading” the country, to members of the public following suit in their treatment of public servants, this is the recipe for ensuring that the agency will fail in its mission and Americans will as well.
The American public does not deserve this. They deserve better.
Georgia
So well said! Thank you.