I have worked in HQ for the past 20 years, and so I really don't have any skin in the telework game. I do have to say, though, that the old adage applies here: fish rot from the head down. Even in the total absence of the pandemic and telework, this agency would be a disaster right now.
The agency has not had effective senior leadership since Carolyn Colvin retired, and is failing in so many regards like I've never seen before. I've never seen AC level folks openly disparage their bosses to their peers and to the staff like I have seen over the past 5 years. There's actually an aura of distrust among senior leadership and their staff.
Everyone, at every level of the agency, is miserable and simply going through the motions, and I don't know how you fix that. More hires are great, but it doesn't fix the underlying problem of fundamental mismanagement. The only way out, I think, is Senate-confirmed leadership that actually has the authority and desire to fix the agency.
Learning of Adams' politics was pretty disappointing. It actually usually does not matter to me an artist's personal beliefs, but it changed a ton of the humor of the comics themselves...like a lot of things I thought were meant to be ironic were actually laudatory.
12:23 The morale at SSA is not nearly as bad as you picture it in your post: "Everyone, at every level of the agency, is miserable and simply going through the motions"
I work in a Congressional unit. I'm not unhappy nor am I simply going through the motions. Every case is a challenge and I enjoy making sure they are done correctly and according to POMS. The other technicians here are skilled and work hard from what I see.
When I worked in the modules there were dedicated technicians there too.
I’m in the field. I’m not the poster you replied to, but I have about 600 pending initial claims, 600 RZ’s, I have all the PE work for M -Z, I have to try and answer the phones, I have to help trainees and now that the offices are open again, I spend about 24-30 of my 40 hour work week at FEI taking walk-ins.
IT IS MISERABLE!!!
I cannot possibly provide the level of service someone in your position can. It’s just physically not possible.
Seems like those “happy” at SSA are the ones not in direct contact with the general public and that makes perfect sense.
12:23 I work at OHO and for the most part, my coworkers are very appreciative of their government jobs and truly believe they're doing a service to those in need. Of course, like any work environment, there are some who are poor performers and let others do the work. However, most employees are dedicated workers, enjoy their jobs, and do the best they can to move cases along.
Same as652. We work in field offices. We are the ones who work with the people ‘in the lobby.” Same exact deal: so far this week, I have gotten do my job, a claims specialist, once. Monday at home. Tuesday I screened all day. Today I answered phones at home because both service reps were in the office. Tomorrow and Friday I am back in the office and will be screening all day. I am happy when I get to do MY job.
And yeah, I’m happy when I don’t smell cigarettes, weed, and hear people cursing, yelling, and phones ringing all day. Yep, it’s true, how dare I.
Also there ARe dumb questions and we have to answer them all day long. Why did my QMB stop, how do I fill out this form, and endless benefit verifications and ssns,
5:43 From reading these comments of people who work in the FO I am blessed to work in the Congressional unit.
When I arrived, I was told to make sure the cases are worked correctly as these are Congressionals. Therefore accuracy is much more important than pumping out a lot of cases.
The Congressional cases are often messed up by prior technicians. I often spend hours on a single case, to research procedure, input actions, and send proper notices.
In the five years here I have never been pushed by management to pump out more cases. We are instead told how well we are doing and how pleased upper management is with our work. It really helps to be able to take my time.
"Also there ARe dumb questions and we have to answer them all day long. Why did my QMB stop, how do I fill out this form, and endless benefit verifications and ssns,"
This IS your job! "Stupid" thanks, maybe not everyone is able to navigate SSA. After all you all tell us all the time that it is so hard to do, almost impossible takes years and years and years to master. Yet somehow you expect everyone in the country have an understanding of how it works.
BTW remember this every time you interact with anyone face to face as a customer or client. They are thinking the same thing about you!
If you’re one of the reps that constantly whine on this blog about phones not being answered, paperwork not being processed quickly enough, things being lost, or things just not being moved quickly enough to your satisfaction, please remember your safe advice above and understand that the person who would likely process things is busy answering questions that are easily found with a few minutes effort, whether online or in the paperwork they bring into the office to have explained. I’m sure we can all count on your patience in the future with this understanding.
I’m not in the field office, but even I have an understanding that there are a finite number of people tasked with an ever increasing number of job duties on an enormous and continuous number of claims in a limited number of hours. 10:27’s response may be callus, but it probably comes out of frustration from getting hammered on every side because they can’t be in three places at once or do three things at once. But hey, they get a steady but mediocre salary and benefits that increasingly eat away at that mediocre salary, so they should be able to take it, right?
I don’t know, call the county welfare office. QMB is not a SSA program so we can’t take you off of it.
But you sent this letter saying it stopping.
Yes, we are required by law to send a letter telling you the state is stopping it because it affects the payment we send you. You most likely missed your re-evaluation with the county and they cut it off. The information was probably in the letter the county sent to you that we don’t have access to because it not our program.
8:24, no, it isn't the job of a CR or TE to answer those questions at the front desk. You apparently do not understand how claims are processed. Do you know what it feels like to have unprocessed allowances in your workload while you work the front desk answering questions and processing SS5's? Guess not. Despite all the bashing of lower level staff on here, most of us would prefer to pay allowed claims within a reasonable time frame.
As a cr, It actually makes me cry to read these and know we aren’t alone in my office. Even the public treats us better than we are treated on this blog and by management. It’s ridiculous. I have applied at four other jobs in the last 3 months. I only have 7 years but I can’t stay at SSA any longer.
I understand that it is your job, you work in the field office to answer the questions and provide service to the public. You seem to have forgotten this part of the job entirely in the last two years.
As a matter of fact I know exactly what it is like, I did it, in a DO in one of the poorest counties in my state. We were understaffed every single day from the first day I worked to the day I walked out the door. Every day there was a line, rain, sleet, snow, it didnt matter, the only day that was slow was the Friday after Thanksgiving because everyone thought the office was closed. Every window was open the first two hours of the day, every day, SRs to Management worked, you had a minimum of two days on walk ins a week, every week of every year.
First they trained us as TXVI when hired, within two years all those hires were trained as TII and we worked both caseloads. So yeah, I know the job. And it IS dealing with the walk ins.
You either do the job or you move on. If you hate the public you are serving, if they are "dumb" "stupid" and all the other insults lobbed on the "public" (ie older disabled confused people) this blog, you are in the wrong job and are doing more harm than good.
I have no issue working the front windows. I just don’t get anything else done and I’m okay with that. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.
I’ll answer all the questions the public has all day…it’s easy money.
When management wants ask my why my allowances aren’t done or why my other work is falling behind, I just point to all the time I spend at FEI getting paid twice the money of a service rep that should be doing the same job.
If they want me to process claims, then they can take me off FEI. I can’t do it all so I will let them choose what is a priority.
11:54 I do not hate the public. I never got complaints. I got several written letters complimenting me on my service done with compassion. I did not insult the public here. I did move on. I was a TE, no, working the front desk doesn't get SSI claims paid, or A101's computed. The remaining staff is half former CDC's and front desk staff promoted to CR despite not being qualified. Good luck with that.
Sorry, unless you have worked at SSA in the past five years, you have no idea what the situation is like. There is a difference between being busy, like you were back in the day, and being totally overwhelmed and outmanned.
Also, you likely had at least some competent co-workers with years on the job. That isn't the case in a number of FOs in 2022.
11:54 the office hasn’t been open the Friday after thanksgiving in years. So what you have told us is you have no recent connection to FO operations. It’s a different game now. Everyday is just putting out the fires until it’s time to go home and do it all over again. It used to be rewarding. Now it’s a job. And I can’t even do my job because I’m up front answering questions or processing SS-5s. But hey, if you are gonna pay me 100k per year, give me 50 paid days off per year, cheap but incredible insurance and remind me that I can’t be fired whether my allowances are paid or not, I’ll sit up front all day long. It’s the claimants who actually suffer from this sadly, not me. And I used to have time to care. Now I don’t.
It’s sad but true. 100k to process social security cards abs benefit verifications while the work r they actually pay me to do gets pushed further and further behind because I have to work the front or answer the phones.
Relying to 11:13, it’s 10:04 here. Honestly I used stay because I enjoyed helping people and genuinely was very satisfied with my job. Now, it’s hard to walk away. I’m in my early 30’s, pay barely $450 a month for insurance for my whole family of 5, no deductible and didn’t pay a penny for anything Covid related. As I mentioned I’m making 6 figures a year, commute less than 10 minutes to work, and since I have been at use or lose for years, I always take my 26 days of vacation and 11 federal holidays at a minimum, 37 days off, plus who knows how much time I’ve taken for sick leave or credit. Last year it was 2 weeks of credit and a week of sick leave for a total of 10 weeks paid time off, plus some admin time. I never miss anything with my kids or work Saturday and usually am home by 4 pm each day when I’m not teleworking. As far as a job goes, the compensation isn’t bad, but the work isn’t enjoyable anymore. Until I find something better it’s hard to leave this. I just wish I could enjoy it again.
At 11:11 I started as a stay in school and worked throughout college and went into the job full time directly after that. I’m on track to take early out as early as possible if it’s offered and take a new career somewhere else and almost have the ability to work a whole second career. I hit the easy 8’s at the end of last year.
Dirty little secret is that most stay in schoolers were related to a member of management. That is how they got in and that is how they rose up throughthe ranks. Not all, but most.
32 comments:
Oh they are going to whine about this one.
Maybe even retire over it!
They have revamped the website so even a toddler can use it. It’s in the beta stage right now but it will help when it’s released.
As far as retiring because of this…lol. I have 3 more years, I’ve already given up, just doing what I can, the best I can until I can go.
thanks so much for this comic
it is fantastic
The evolution of this blog from liberal advocacy to quoting Trump loving neo fascist cartoonists like Scott Adams has been fascinating to watch.
I have worked in HQ for the past 20 years, and so I really don't have any skin in the telework game. I do have to say, though, that the old adage applies here: fish rot from the head down. Even in the total absence of the pandemic and telework, this agency would be a disaster right now.
The agency has not had effective senior leadership since Carolyn Colvin retired, and is failing in so many regards like I've never seen before. I've never seen AC level folks openly disparage their bosses to their peers and to the staff like I have seen over the past 5 years. There's actually an aura of distrust among senior leadership and their staff.
Everyone, at every level of the agency, is miserable and simply going through the motions, and I don't know how you fix that. More hires are great, but it doesn't fix the underlying problem of fundamental mismanagement. The only way out, I think, is Senate-confirmed leadership that actually has the authority and desire to fix the agency.
@11:28
Learning of Adams' politics was pretty disappointing. It actually usually does not matter to me an artist's personal beliefs, but it changed a ton of the humor of the comics themselves...like a lot of things I thought were meant to be ironic were actually laudatory.
And today SSA removes filed office phone numbers from SSA.gov.... The public can now only find the 1-800 number and get even worse service!!!
12:23 The morale at SSA is not nearly as bad as you picture it in your post:
"Everyone, at every level of the agency, is miserable and simply going through the motions"
I work in a Congressional unit. I'm not unhappy nor am I simply going through the motions. Every case is a challenge and I enjoy making sure they are done correctly and according to POMS. The other technicians here are skilled and work hard from what I see.
When I worked in the modules there were dedicated technicians there too.
@5:43
I’m truly glad you enjoy your job at SSA.
I’m in the field. I’m not the poster you replied to, but I have about 600 pending initial claims, 600 RZ’s, I have all the PE work for M -Z, I have to try and answer the phones, I have to help trainees and now that the offices are open again, I spend about 24-30 of my 40 hour work week at FEI taking walk-ins.
IT IS MISERABLE!!!
I cannot possibly provide the level of service someone in your position can. It’s just physically not possible.
Seems like those “happy” at SSA are the ones not in direct contact with the general public and that makes perfect sense.
12:23 I work at OHO and for the most part, my coworkers are very appreciative of their government jobs and truly believe they're doing a service to those in need. Of course, like any work environment, there are some who are poor performers and let others do the work. However, most employees are dedicated workers, enjoy their jobs, and do the best they can to move cases along.
Same as652. We work in field offices. We are the ones who work with the people ‘in the lobby.” Same exact deal: so far this week, I have gotten do my job, a claims specialist, once. Monday at home. Tuesday I screened all day. Today I answered phones at home because both service reps were in the office. Tomorrow and Friday I am back in the office and will be screening all day.
I am happy when I get to do MY job.
And yeah, I’m happy when I don’t smell cigarettes, weed, and hear people cursing, yelling, and phones ringing all day. Yep, it’s true, how dare I.
Also there ARe dumb questions and we have to answer them all day long. Why did my QMB stop, how do I fill out this form, and endless benefit verifications and ssns,
5:43 From reading these comments of people who work in the FO I am blessed to work in the Congressional unit.
When I arrived, I was told to make sure the cases are worked correctly as these are Congressionals. Therefore accuracy is much more important than pumping out a lot of cases.
The Congressional cases are often messed up by prior technicians. I often spend hours on a single case, to research procedure, input actions, and send proper notices.
In the five years here I have never been pushed by management to pump out more cases. We are instead told how well we are doing and how pleased upper management is with our work. It really helps to be able to take my time.
"Also there ARe dumb questions and we have to answer them all day long. Why did my QMB stop, how do I fill out this form, and endless benefit verifications and ssns,"
This IS your job! "Stupid" thanks, maybe not everyone is able to navigate SSA. After all you all tell us all the time that it is so hard to do, almost impossible takes years and years and years to master. Yet somehow you expect everyone in the country have an understanding of how it works.
BTW remember this every time you interact with anyone face to face as a customer or client. They are thinking the same thing about you!
Who is the "stupid" one?
@8:24
If you’re one of the reps that constantly whine on this blog about phones not being answered, paperwork not being processed quickly enough, things being lost, or things just not being moved quickly enough to your satisfaction, please remember your safe advice above and understand that the person who would likely process things is busy answering questions that are easily found with a few minutes effort, whether online or in the paperwork they bring into the office to have explained. I’m sure we can all count on your patience in the future with this understanding.
I’m not in the field office, but even I have an understanding that there are a finite number of people tasked with an ever increasing number of job duties on an enormous and continuous number of claims in a limited number of hours. 10:27’s response may be callus, but it probably comes out of frustration from getting hammered on every side because they can’t be in three places at once or do three things at once. But hey, they get a steady but mediocre salary and benefits that increasingly eat away at that mediocre salary, so they should be able to take it, right?
Why did my QMB stop?
I don’t know, call the county welfare office. QMB is not a SSA program so we can’t take you off of it.
But you sent this letter saying it stopping.
Yes, we are required by law to send a letter telling you the state is stopping it because it affects the payment we send you.
You most likely missed your re-evaluation with the county and they cut it off. The information was probably in the letter the county sent to you that we don’t have access to because it not our program.
Over and over and over again
8:24, no, it isn't the job of a CR or TE to answer those questions at the front desk. You apparently do not understand how claims are processed. Do you know what it feels like to have unprocessed allowances in your workload while you work the front desk answering questions and processing SS5's?
Guess not. Despite all the bashing of lower level staff on here, most of us would prefer to pay allowed claims within a reasonable time frame.
As a cr, It actually makes me cry to read these and know we aren’t alone in my office. Even the public treats us better than we are treated on this blog and by management. It’s ridiculous. I have applied at four other jobs in the last 3 months. I only have 7 years but I can’t stay at SSA any longer.
I understand that it is your job, you work in the field office to answer the questions and provide service to the public. You seem to have forgotten this part of the job entirely in the last two years.
As a matter of fact I know exactly what it is like, I did it, in a DO in one of the poorest counties in my state. We were understaffed every single day from the first day I worked to the day I walked out the door. Every day there was a line, rain, sleet, snow, it didnt matter, the only day that was slow was the Friday after Thanksgiving because everyone thought the office was closed. Every window was open the first two hours of the day, every day, SRs to Management worked, you had a minimum of two days on walk ins a week, every week of every year.
First they trained us as TXVI when hired, within two years all those hires were trained as TII and we worked both caseloads. So yeah, I know the job. And it IS dealing with the walk ins.
You either do the job or you move on. If you hate the public you are serving, if they are "dumb" "stupid" and all the other insults lobbed on the "public" (ie older disabled confused people) this blog, you are in the wrong job and are doing more harm than good.
I have no issue working the front windows. I just don’t get anything else done and I’m okay with that. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.
I’ll answer all the questions the public has all day…it’s easy money.
When management wants ask my why my allowances aren’t done or why my other work is falling behind, I just point to all the time I spend at FEI getting paid twice the money of a service rep that should be doing the same job.
If they want me to process claims, then they can take me off FEI. I can’t do it all so I will let them choose what is a priority.
11:54 I do not hate the public. I never got complaints. I got several written letters complimenting me on my service done with compassion. I did not insult the public here. I did move on. I was a TE, no, working the front desk doesn't get SSI claims paid, or A101's computed. The remaining staff is half former CDC's and front desk staff promoted to CR despite not being qualified. Good luck with that.
Sorry, unless you have worked at SSA in the past five years, you have no idea what the situation is like. There is a difference between being busy, like you were back in the day, and being totally overwhelmed and outmanned.
Also, you likely had at least some competent co-workers with years on the job. That isn't the case in a number of FOs in 2022.
How long has it been since an office was open the Friday after thanksgiving, 11:54? Are you out and out lying or what.
11:54 the office hasn’t been open the Friday after thanksgiving in years. So what you have told us is you have no recent connection to FO operations. It’s a different game now. Everyday is just putting out the fires until it’s time to go home and do it all over again. It used to be rewarding. Now it’s a job. And I can’t even do my job because I’m up front answering questions or processing SS-5s. But hey, if you are gonna pay me 100k per year, give me 50 paid days off per year, cheap but incredible insurance and remind me that I can’t be fired whether my allowances are paid or not, I’ll sit up front all day long. It’s the claimants who actually suffer from this sadly, not me. And I used to have time to care. Now I don’t.
10:04 pm got it exactly right.
It’s sad but true. 100k to process social security cards abs benefit verifications while the work r they actually pay me to do gets pushed further and further behind because I have to work the front or answer the phones.
Why would anyone stay at a job that suck so much?
Relying to 11:13, it’s 10:04 here. Honestly I used stay because I enjoyed helping people and genuinely was very satisfied with my job. Now, it’s hard to walk away. I’m in my early 30’s, pay barely $450 a month for insurance for my whole family of 5, no deductible and didn’t pay a penny for anything Covid related. As I mentioned I’m making 6 figures a year, commute less than 10 minutes to work, and since I have been at use or lose for years, I always take my 26 days of vacation and 11 federal holidays at a minimum, 37 days off, plus who knows how much time I’ve taken for sick leave or credit. Last year it was 2 weeks of credit and a week of sick leave for a total of 10 weeks paid time off, plus some admin time. I never miss anything with my kids or work Saturday and usually am home by 4 pm each day when I’m not teleworking. As far as a job goes, the compensation isn’t bad, but the work isn’t enjoyable anymore. Until I find something better it’s hard to leave this. I just wish I could enjoy it again.
Job security and pension...the classic handcuffs.
How do you already have 15 years (and thus 26 days of annual leave) if you are in your early 30s.
Does not compute.
At 11:11 I started as a stay in school and worked throughout college and went into the job full time directly after that. I’m on track to take early out as early as possible if it’s offered and take a new career somewhere else and almost have the ability to work a whole second career. I hit the easy 8’s at the end of last year.
My DM started as a stay in school and just turned 40:last year. It’s possible.
Dirty little secret is that most stay in schoolers were related to a member of management. That is how they got in and that is how they rose up throughthe ranks. Not all, but most.
I don’t think that’s a secret, though dirty may apply. SSA is no different than any other part of government. It’s who you know not what you know.
It was all those years ago and it still is today even though they use USA Jobs to put the face of equal opportunity on it.
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