Service delivery and customer service at the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been a point of concern for many since the beginning of the year when the new administration was elected to office and introduced the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to the agency. In February, an announcement was made by the agency revealing plans to downsize its workforce by around 7,000 employees over the course of the fiscal year.
Subsequently, many people began sharing concerns and fears of delays with benefit payments as these cutbacks have resulted in the SSA having its lowest staff force on record in at least 50 years. As such, it appears that the agency has opted to better its digital systems and tools in order to aid the issue of service delivery from the agency.
The SSA phone line now has an automated system, while the online portal also offers 24/7 access after previously having scheduled down times. These updates are all likely a part of the recently appointed SSA Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano’s plan to make the agency a “digital first organization”. Here is what you need to know.
Social Security puts out a digital update
A recent update on the SSA blog outlined some of the new digital updates and metrics made by the agency in pursuit of improved customer service. According to the update, through the improvement of its online services, as well as a reduction in wait times on the phone line due to the new automated system, the agency claims to have saved Americans 43 million hours over the course of the past year.
The SSA’s online portal now allows users 24/7 access to conduct their routine tasks such as, check your benefits or update your records, apply for benefits online, or request a replacement Social Security card. As such, when speaking on Fox Business, SSA Commissioner Bisignano stated the following regarding the previous scheduled down times on the agency’s online portal: “That will mean for everyone the ability to access their information online in the way they’re used to transacting. Prior to this update, the online portal was “down for 29 hours a week.”
“I think what we’re delivering right now is the best service that’s ever been delivered [by] the agency,” Bisignano added. “We see it in call wait times, we see it in wait times in field offices, and we delivered the Fairness Act payment five months earlier than planned.”
Staffing cuts at SSA sparks criticism
In response to the SSA’s decision to reduce its workforce, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) in June noted that, “the Social Security Administration will have fewer and less experienced staff on the front lines serving the public with significantly less support, leading to worse outcomes for people who rely on Social Security.”
More recently, former SSA Commissioner Martin O’Malley has also shared criticism of the staffing issue at the agency, citing numerous complaints from constituents. O’Malley further claimed that the metrics shared by the Trump Administration were misleading.
“Because of the speed and the depth of the cruelty of the staff cuts to Social Security — an agency that was already struggling to serve record numbers of new beneficiaries because of baby boomers — the staff was cut to a 50-year low. The continued, never-fail, every-monthly string of payments by Social Security is very much in jeopardy,” O’Malley stated.
O’Malley went on to use the SSA’s claim of an 8 minute wait time when calling the phone line as an example of the agency’s inaccurate metrics. According to O’Malley, these wait times have not necessarily been reduced, but rather the definition of an “answered” call has been changed.
“‘Answer’ would appear to be anytime a person calls and hangs up after hearing a recording, or calls and gets run around the barn three times by a chatbot and has their call dumped,” O’Malley explained. “That’s what they call ‘answered.’ That’s what they call ‘served.’ None of it bears any reality to what people are experiencing.”