The Social Security Administration (SSA) has reassigned a portion of its field office employees in order to reduce wait times for callers who are utilising the national 800-number. Even the phone lines are improving, this change is causing severe disruptions elsewhere.
Field Offices Under Pressure
Approximately 4% of the SSA staff were temporarily moved from local field offices to assist with national phone calls. The SSA claims this effort is paying off, noting faster response times and improved service through a revamped telephone system that now offers automated options and scheduled callbacks.
However, field office workers tell a different story. Nicole Morio, a staff member and union rep in Staten Island, says the changes have left her team scrambling. “The stress level is probably at a maximum for everyone,” she said. “At one point I think we were doing the work of 1.8 people. Now it seems as though we’re doing the work of 10 to 15.”
The reassignment, she argues, is keeping them from delivering critical, in-person services to the public services that often can’t be fully handled over the phone.
Vital Services Take a Hit
Monique Buchanan, who heads a local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) in Detroit, shares similar concerns. She says that some of the workers reassigned to phone duty are claims specialists and these are staff that are trained to guide people through complex benefit applications, including those for disabled children.
“These applications are taken through an interview that the claim specialist engages in,” Buchanan explained.”
There are experts who agree. Kathleen Romig, a former SSA official and now a policy director at the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities, says that many calls to the 800-number still lead people back to local offices. “Sure, you can get a boost in a particular metric like phone hold times by making a massive shift of staffers to answer the phones,” she said. “But you do that by creating a new hole in the field offices, and that’s what they’re doing.”
Staffing Shortages Reach Crisis Levels
As of March, over 4,600 employees have left the agency. Some took early retirement incentives, while others simply walked away due to mounting pressure and deteriorating working conditions.
Jessica LaPointe, president of another AFGE chapter in Wisconsin, says the agency’s band-aid solutions are making things worse. “If they decided not to take the buyout incentives that were offered in March, then now they’re just leaving to save their mental health as their work keeps piling up,” LaPointe said.
In Monroe, Michigan, for example, staff member Juan Daniel Vasquez said his team is struggling after just one reassignment. He mentioned that all staff members were taking turns to handle the phones and it has added a significant word-load to staff.
Vasquez, who once planned to work for several more years, is now reconsidering early retirement.
A Divided Leadership Approach
New SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano acknowledges the need for better performance but doesn’t believe hiring more staff is the answer. In recent congressional testimony, he said that improving efficiency was the solution.
SSA responded by underlining that Bisignano has been touring field offices to speak directly with employees. The agency also says it has established support teams to help manage workloads in the most affected areas.
But many employees remain unconvinced.
Workers Say Morale Is at a Low
Regardless of the visits and verbal assurances, the morale still drops.
“There’s no indication that this is getting better,” she said (LaPointe). “We have an agency not listening to the workers.”
The Bottom Line
The SSA is caught between trying to serve more Americans with less employees, all while trying to maintain quality over the phone and in person. However, this is becoming more and more difficult as staff leave as this places a heavy work-load on remaining employees.