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 The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.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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Vivian C.
Screw the average American so Trump can extend the Tax Cuts for billionaires and corporations. Which was a major contribution to the debt in the first place!
R
When did you come out of the basement? Where have you been? Did you read the article?
Carol
That’s how I see it too
NPL
People did not contribute to Social Security all of their hard working professional careers to be treated as second class citizens by politically driven government executives who are not qualified to properly serve the public, and who are going to use any savings from these executive orders for a biased political agenda.
Susan
You are describing reducing the SSA to 4 regional locations. Would you please indicate where those locations will be? It has been hard enough to get to the existing locations when appointments have been required because phone contacts did not resolve issues. How far will we be traveling and how long will the waits for appointments be when this consolidation occurs? Are you thinking at all about the needs of the population you serve? Or is this just an interim step to shutting things down or an effort to deny service?
Alice
Yesterday I called. A predicted wait time of 2 hours, so I hung up.
I’ve had several reasons to contact SS past 10 years. Once I get someone, have always had knowledgeable people who were patient and clear.
It is a difficult system for many Americans to navigate and sounds like it will become increasing difficult to be helped, perhaps hoping folks will give up.
Such a shame, but when Musk came out with his chainsaw we knew he had no intentions of thoughtful changes to improve efficiency. “Slash and burn” should be trump administration motto.
Betty S.
They don’t need the money. If they did, maybe the corrupt bureaucrats in Washington would think differently!
James
While the the Trump Administration is ostensibly making the Social Security Administration more “Efficient”, one can only wonder if that is honestly the goal if the antiquated Computer System isn’t being addressed and brought up-to-date to actually be “Efficient”. Or is this simply a prelude to action yet to come?
KFX
These rich business guys who seem to tank their own businesses haven’t a clue about how government works and what it takes to help the American people. This is all a power and cash grab. Break the government then tell everyone government doesn’t work so they can privatize everything and hand it all over to their friends This is all part of project 2025. You know, the project trump denied he knew anything about? They are coming after our SS.
Joe M.
After just a few weeks on the job, the new commissioner has made a false statement that the Social Security workforce is bloated wich is absolutely untrue!
Justina
Could SSA staff please comment on today’s headlines regarding expectations of DOGE making mistakes at ssa?
To what extent are they reading or downloading our personal data?
Jim V.
Be careful with your comments. Don’t forget these are mean unforgiving people running things now. Our new leaders love revenge.