From Government Executive:
In recent days, the Social Security Administration and its newly confirmed commissioner Frank Bisignano have celebrated “key milestones” in its quest to improve customer service, citing its implementation of the Social Security Fairness Act and addition of new automated service lanes on the agency’s 1-800 number and website. …
But workers at the agency say that as the agency shrinks by an aspired 7,000 workers this fiscal year, management is simultaneously scrambling to triage escalating workloads, causing a communications whiplash akin to being “gaslit,” one said. …
Beginning last week, the agency involuntarily reassigned 500 field office customer support representatives to handle calls to the 1-800 number indefinitely and without notice. By Tuesday, that number had risen to 1,000 reassignments. …
They’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” [said the leader of the union that represents most Social Security employees].“And it really invalidates [Bisignano’s] whole theory and vision that SSA doesn’t need any more staff and that AI—or other technology—will solve the customer service problems at the agency and on the 1-800 number.” …
Bisignano’s email to staff on Monday included an additional bit of news: performance bonuses will be distributed next month. Though Bisignano said he “directed” their distribution, the bonuses were originally slated to go out earlier this year but were delayed during the tenure of then-acting Commissioner Leland Dudek. …
No AI has been used or implemented. We are told to just halfass it.
ReplyDeleteIs that why SSA is not publishing certain metrics? Don't want to show declining agency performance in areas where they "robbed Peter" so to speak?
ReplyDeleteBingo. Can’t have the public knowing that we really, really needed the 3,000-4,000 people we’ve lost, and how much it has negatively impacted our ability to serve the public. Couple that with people working fewer hours due to being in the office 5 days a week (people who used to work credit and overtime don’t work as much or at all anymore thanks to commuting time and exhaustion/plummeting morale). We were in critical condition in January, we are on life support with all systems flashing red now.
Delete“If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any”
DeleteIt has completely broken our FO. All work has come to a screeching halt, as over half our CSR unit is now locked up answering 1-800 calls. All local work, and lobby customer service is being distributed amongst Claims Specialists and Technical Experts, which means their work (claims, reviews, etc) is largely growing and undone.
ReplyDeleteThe announcment last week cratered morale, and it's only gotten lower since. I honestly couldn't think of a more effective way to destroy the operations of Field Offices if I tried.
Good job, Frank. I don't want your bonus. I want to be able to do my job.
That's exactly what they are doing - robbing Peter to pay Paul. But that's only part of the problem. The dysfunction this has caused in many field offices is beyond devastating. Some offices are so low staffed there is no bouncing back from this staff robbery. Workloads are just piling up with no answers on how it will get done or what can give. It's beyond a local management problem. The math just doesn't work. The work coming in hasn't stopped but in many cases staffing is down one quarter to half what it was just a couple of years ago. And the sad reality those offices weren't flush with staff two years ago. This is a gutting of field offices the likes of which has never happened before. We need help and we need it now. It's not going to do any good to answer phone calls when work can't get done. Many calls can be avoided by simply getting the work done. These latest moves have done the opposite of that.
ReplyDeleteIt's beyond robbing Peter to pay Paul, it's rob Peter to pay Paul, but it's kill Peter in in the process. "Peter you're not going to be needing this and as a matter of fact Peter, pop pop pop, we don't need you at all.". This is killing field offices. The lack of hiring for years was a slow death. This type of move is instant death.
ReplyDeleteThe area call queues and #800 reassignments have destroyed what remained of FO efficiency and morale. The whole point of the #800 is to relieve FOs of work. The snake is eating its tail in the service of the #800 call time metric.
ReplyDeleteYou can I would gladly give up every bonus I would ever receive for the rest of my career if they would just put the Agency back into the position it was in prior to when that stooge Dudek enacted Elon’s slash and burn. They trashed the Agency just for the sake of doing it, but perhaps that was the goal.
ReplyDeletethey should not get a bonus, just a pizza party at best
ReplyDeleteDid anyone see the hearing yesterday? Did any of this come up?
ReplyDeleteThe public thinks the service is horrible at SSA and their employees don’t like working at the agency but yet they are giving out bonuses at taxpayers expense?
ReplyDeleteThe Social Security Administration came in last place in the 2024 Best Places to Work rankings for the third year in a row. The agency received an overall score of 54.2 out of 100. SSA’s score last year still marked an increase in the overall engagement and satisfaction levels of its workforce. But now, SSA is outlining plans to lay off at least 7,000 of its employees.
As per the commissioner there will not be RIFs as we will more than surpass the 15% reduction in staff via the early outs and people simply quitting. It's estimated that by the end of the fiscal year SSA will have lost close to 8,000 since January. Instead we all get to suffer. I'm betting we hire after the hiring freeze ends. There is no other answer.
DeleteWhen did he say this?
DeleteI seriously doubt the hiring freeze will be lifted anytime soon. Also, who would want to come and work for the federal government right now? If anybody does come and work for us, it will be out of sheer desperation. The moment they get a better opportunity, they will be gone. So we might be able to hire people eventually, but we will not be able to retain people.
DeleteThe hiring freeze isn't going to be lifted during this administration. It'll be 3 more months extensions until 2029 with exceptions only for ICE.
DeleteI’m wondering if one has to sign a loyalty pledge in order to receive the bonus.
ReplyDeleteWho is getting a bonus? He didn’t say, so probably the Doge bros on top of their GS 15 step 10 salary. Where does that money come from? The people’s salaries that were forced out? How about we not pay bonuses, but instead we keep the people we already had?
Deletewhat's extra frustrating is that some of the people reassigned to answer the phones have sufficient training and network access to actually process some of the actions that callers are requesting, but my understanding is that they are being directed not to do so. Instead, the reassigned person on the phones sends an MDW to the field office, where there is nobody available to handle it because the FO staff have been reassigned to the phones. If SSA is going to reassign people to the phones, at least let them do the things they are capable of doing if it will result in first-call resolution, especially if doing the action will take a similar amount of time to writing up an MDW!
ReplyDeleteNope. This suggestion actually makes sense, and leads me to think you know what you’re talking about. This suggestion therefore will be ignored, and things will continue to spiral. And in 12-18 months’ time, someone somewhere will see that we have 2 million pending MDWs with no action taken, and all focus will shift to them, and people will probably work the MDWs that they created while working the 800 number.
DeleteThis is like playing whac-a-mole with government employees and stats.
They are shackled by #800 policy, which was designed to limit the scope of TSC actions so they do not screw things up for the FOs.
DeleteBut policy is not a law of physics--it can be changed. The reassigned TSC folks who have been trained to do certain actions should be allowed to do them.
DeleteI don't know about that. In my area our CSRs that were assigned to the TSC were given no guidance. They could process things if they want. That's one of the most frustrating issues. They are assigned to TSC calls, remain in the FO, supervised in the FO, but the FO has no idea what they are doing or should be doing. They have no expectations besides do the best you can. Meanwhile the FO supervision gets feedback from the TSC when the employee is perceived to be slacking. We get messages like, can you check on them. Like check on what? They don't exactly work for us right now. Maybe you should check on them.
DeleteYesterday, after calling a DO and after 50 minutes on hold was switched to a different DO where the person answering agreed that there was absolutely nothing he could do to address the problem but promised to message the correct DO to have someone call me.
ReplyDeleteFor some unknown reason the Prompts as to my issue dealing with a year delay in the processing of a Title II/Title XVI claim after Court Remand and an error in the first implementation did not lead to an AI inspired solution.
The Admin line that I used to call for such problems no longer answers at all.
I think the SSA has achieved their goal of proving the Republican/Reagan idea that Government is the problem.
Why don’t you contact the party that is in control. The last time I checked it was the Republican Party.
DeleteAre the OGC attorneys who handled these cases helpful at all when implementation is so delayed? I'd think they'd hate to have to go back to court and explain why SSA didn't do what was ordered, but maybe they don't care or don't think you'd go through with it or aren't there anymore or don't know how to get Operations folks to actually carry out orders.
DeleteOGC attorneys were also reassigned
DeleteYou should call your Congressman/woman and let them know. Things aren’t going to improve, they will only get worse. But everyone who has terrible service needs to call Congress. It is their fault (bi-partisan) for underfunding us for years. It is Trump’s fault for driving all of the people out since January. We cannot keep staff due to the job difficulty and low starting pay. We struggled to keep staff even with telework. Now that they’ve taken telework away from all but OHO (which no one will actually explain why OHO gets to do it but no one else does), they have removed flexibilities that some people stayed for, even with the rest of it. I expect to see that 50,000 number decrease to 40,000 or lower before all is said and done. We cannot sustain this.
DeleteWait tll they RIF the remainig 7,000 employees that tney need to offload before Oct 1st. We are at 57,000 now. FY 2026 only funds 50,000 FTE. If you get a cash award, stash it to tide you over until your unemployment kicks in.
ReplyDeleteWe are not at 57,000. Go read Frank's Congressional testimony. We're at like 53k.
DeleteBuddy, we STARTED with 57,000 in January when this sh*t show started. It's estimated we will be under 50,000 by the end of the fiscal year.
DeletePlease check your sources before posting fake news. People have enough to worry about.
It is obvious, we need to return the SSA to its pre-January 2025 organizational structure. At the very least, work would flow between capable components. Right now there is no support in the PSC's and FO's, let alone OHO. Playing whack-a-mole with workloads and employees never works, SSA internal operations are in one word: A DISASTER!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePlease note - especially those outside of SSA, “bonuses” are not much. For the most part, staff positions (GS-5 to GS-12) receive at most $5000, if that. That “bonus” isn’t going to increase morale or improve customer service when staff cannot provide the level of service that they know they could in the past with more and better trained employees. SES positions should not receive their bonuses (generally ranging from $10k to $36k) until these messes are addressed with a realistic course of action - not lip service to whomever is in charge. There were career SES staff who did care and tried to improve things, but they are gone. Those who remain are too weak willed to stand up for the mission, work with integrity, and speak truth to power.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never received a bonus over 1100 dollars.
DeleteWhere are the reassigned staff physically working? Are they now at TSCs? Are they taking calls at the FOs? Teleworking? Are they subject to the same 8:30-5 mandatory schedule that's been applied to permanent TSC staff?
ReplyDeleteThey’re in training that’s slated to take several months to complete so they are not taking calls. Yes, they have the same mandatory schedule. And yes they are onsite - not teleworking. Don’t you worry though. I think most are looking for other employment.
DeleteThey are working from the Field Office. Unless you are Frank B or OHO, you don’t get to telework. They are taking calls all day from the Field Office; not allowed to help out said Field Office with workloads. No idea if they have to do the same fixed tour as permanent TSC staff.
DeleteWell, the field is so gutted telework has no place in most offices anyway just from a sheer lack of bodies. I'd give up the telework concerns. In these lean times, we've got to be together.
DeleteAs of today, the reassigned CSRs work their FO shifts. It is possible the fixed second shift is coming. Potentially Agency wide. FOs are opened until 4:00. Public can walk in the door until 3:59
DeleteCongressional Inquiries used to be a good way to get long delayed cases moving. However so many experienced SSA employees left with the last buyout offer, even the Congressional workloads were affected. The entire CS staff in PC7's Congressional unit walked out the door for the last time jn March.
ReplyDeleteHas it occurred to anyone that even if the SSA were to reverse course and decide to hire 10,000 additional staff to professional positions as Claims or Service Representatives starting as GS 5 or 7, all requiring college or equivalent experience (Currently $40,000 to $49,000 before locality pay) where those people would come from?
ReplyDeleteRobbing Peter to pay Paul is nothing new to SSA and it’s been like that for years, probably even decades. Ever since management had a hard-on about culling CSRs hires and just hiring claims reps because then “they can just do it all!” So CSRs quit/retired and they were replaced with claims reps at GS11 pay. Imagine gleefully paying GS11 (and even GS12) salaries to process replacement cards and answer phone calls. SSA management has a long streak of being delusional and Franks tenure will certainly be no exception.
ReplyDeleteGreat question. Who would work for such an agency in total chaos and at such low pay? NO ONE!
ReplyDeleteWho else has memories of when Dorcas Hardy took a meat ax to the agency and crippled it? Frankenstein and Dudek make Hardy look like a mere piker...
ReplyDeleteTraining a new hire requires at least 10 months of classroom type training on SSA law as well as systems and procedures. It takes 3 years for an SSA Technician to be fully functional in their respective duties. Hiring new employees is the only way out of the current situation and returning to the pre-January organizational structure is imperative if current workloads are to be processed on a flow basis, not in the "Wack-a-Workload" method.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone wants a plausible idea of what is going on in general not just with ssa, watch Stacey Abrams during her interview on “The Jimmy Kimmel Show.” S23 E138. The segment is close to the end 27 minutes or so into the show.
ReplyDelete