From Government Executive:
The Social Security Administration on Thursday gave 41 probationary employees in the agency’s headquarters and regional offices the choice to be reassigned to frontline agency work or to get caught up in the ongoing governmentwide purge of recently hired or promoted workers….
Rich Couture, spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees’ Social Security General Committee, which represents more than 40,000 SSA employees, confirmed the initiative and said while the union appreciates giving probationary workers who weren’t subject to the agency’s exemptions a chance to stay employed, the agency needs more workers, not fewer.
“We are grateful that the probationary employees on the front line were not terminated,” he said. “With 10,000 new beneficiaries each day and a 50-year low in staffing, now is the time to be adding to our frontline staff . . . Should all [of the 41 probationary employees] accept reassignment, we still need to prevent attrition and add 20,0000 new hires to be able to deliver Americans their earned benefits efficiently and accurately.”
15 comments:
That's today. They're just warming up.
Next up
Was reassignment in same commuting area?
Kudos to the agency. These 41 employees were not doing productive work so they were quickly transferred to the frontlines where they can assist and be safe from layoffs.
@10:22PM - And how do you know they weren't doing productive work?
I wish folks would realize before sounding off on here that the greatest gift to Social Security employees is the apolitical nature of the work. We process claims. Doesn't matter if you voted for Trump, Harris, Biden or wrote in Big Foot. You're treated with the same courtesy and efficiency. Please remember that before talkin' politics at your office, bashing DOGE, or going full chicken little. No need. Keep your head down and work.
What I think is missed here and rather interesting is that SSA has only hired 41 people over the past two years. For an organization that has around 60K people, hiring freezes before the new administration and focus on building up DDS staff, the agency has been at a low headcount for a while.
Musk and Trump are being cautious in what they do to SSA employees. SSA is the third rail in politics, politicians know not to touch it.
That being said, Musk appearing on state with a chainsaw last night was callous and insulting to those federal employees who have lost their jobs. Musk should be fired for that stunt.
@10:22. Lol. You think that's how it went?
You have no idea what work these employees were doing and have no basis to judge. You have to be really ignorant to think that the agency could run if it only had the employees that worked on the front lines. 6 of the employees were contracting specialists that purchase good and services for the agency. Their loss will mean slower contract and task order awards. You think Field Offices don’t rely on contracted services? lol.
Your servile toadying is embarrassing. Have some self respect.
My work is apolitical. I serve conservatives, liberals and everything in between. But I'll be darned if I will sit back and stay silent while this administration puts people like Lee in charge. But you go ahead and bury your head in the sand if that's what it takes for you to accept this kind of stuff.
No. It was only 41 in “non-essential” positions. All the other probationary hires were in “essential” positions and therefore immune from the latest round of firings.
AFGE protecting people left and right, just stopping management from running over employees and standing up for what is right. The power of AFGE is on full display. Impotent, useless and powerless.
So how many probationary hires were deemed in "essential" positions?
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