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 The organizational structure at Headquarters also is outdated and inefficient.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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Kathy H.
It is hard enough to get someone on the phone now. This drastic reduction in staff is only going to make it harder for retirees to get the information they require. You get an F for Failure.
Craig
How dare you layoff critical staff and cause inconvenience/hassles to tax paying recipients.
SSA staff don’t deserve this.
RandomerH
No decent human being writes “bloated” on its website when describing efforts underway to fire people. You are inhumane and wicked assholes. Try using your words a little more carefully, you incoherent and clueless little flyspecks.
Bette
I am semi retired and now won’t retire because I fear the current trusk admin will wipe out Soc Sec completely.
Austin S.
Trump needs to keep his filthy hands off of SS and Medicare! He is a grifter and buffoon who disrespects the working class. God help us all!
Allison M.
Next they’ll be forced to drop benefits to retired and disabled people. Probably by ethnicity.
My mom and I feel like we’re being kicked to the curb.
Midge
Asshats musk and trump talking.
Alisa
How does this affect the people who are in the process of disability claims?
Patricia D.
Thank you for keeping us updated. You are very appreciated.
MajJohn
I would hope that most of the staff reductions will not effect field offices which have been grossly understaffed for 30 years. Transfers out of HQ to the field makes sense and so does consolidation of regions.