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 The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.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.
Did you find this Information helpful?
About the Author
Social Security Administration
Social Security Administration
Comments
Leave a Comment
Please review our Comment Policy before leaving a comment. For your safety, please do not post Personally Identifiable Information (such as your Social Security Number, address, phone number, email address, bank account number, or birthdate) on our blog.
Daniel T.
Anyone having dealt with the SSA understands that the last thing it needs to improve efficiency is not decreasing staffing. More sensible would have been to review and revise its website presence to work with an eye on common sense and streamline how individuals can interact with the system..
Al F.
Sorry that many great people have been forced out. Put our SS payments on automatic pay for the next 50 years!
ROBERT W.
Don’t listen to the White House. Listen to the PEOPLE
CATHERINE T.
Have the offices that will be closed been identified? That would be a good thing to know.
Lisa J.
My medication cost through Medicare has already more than doubled because of Trump. If they start messing with our Social Security you will be hearing from a lot of very upset citizens.
Retiree
The use of pejorative language toward your employees is inappropriate. Anyone who has ever been served by SSA staff knows they work hard and are a lean workforce. You could have left out the word “bloated.”
kathy r.
The website has worked flawlessly in the past. As a social security recipient, I will be watching carefully to be sure the My Medicare website continues to operate as flawlessly as it has for the past few years. I am very doubtful of Elon Musk’s ability to properly manage a business. He has had billions of dollars from the federal government thru tax credits, loans, subsidies, contracts. If he would repay what the government has given him, that would be a huge start to reduce the deficit. Putting down the chainsaw would be a pleasing thing.
Paula M.
Please maintain customer service levels. It’s hard enough now.
Marilyn
I do not agree with these policies and feel bad not only for the impacted, hard-working employees, but for all the people who rely on these services. I prefer that my tax dollars be spent on services as opposed to a tax cut for the rich. My 2 cents.
M
Can’t say on here what I’m thinking. 🤬 IDIOTS
Marilyn
Agree 😠