The Social Security Administration is shifting more employees to its phone line, a move that employees say risks adding to backlogs and processing times for the public as employees who typically handle those workloads are reassigned to take calls.
Employees who receive and process retirement and disability claims, manage the agency’s technology and work in the agency's finances unit will be answering SSA’s phone line after only hours of training. The reshuffling comes after SSA pushed out over 7,400 employees last year, according to newly released government data. That total eclipsed the Trump administration’s intended target of shedding 7,000 SSA workers, a target it announced a year ago.
That loss of workers included 1,387 contact representatives at the SSA, which is now fielding applications for replacements at several locations around the country. …
Reassigned employees said it made little sense to answer calls for individuals awaiting information about the status of their claims and benefits while removing the people responsible for processing those claims and benefits.
“Why are we being forced away from the backlog of appeals and cases and forced onto the phones to take calls from people wondering what the status of their claim is and where their back benefits are?” one reassigned employee asked. “We are the workers who process the claims they are waiting for.” …
Absolutely terrible management from the top. Get rid of thousands of employees. Those who remain are already overworked, but have to pick up the slack. Desperately move people around and make them do additional/multiple jobs just to stay afloat. Realize that there's not enough people. Hire more people. When the new people arrive (if anyone is crazy enough to apply for federal employment following the 2025 debacle), management will have to contend with the fact that many people typically tasked with/experienced at training are gone. Everyone is miserable.
ReplyDeleteI started at SSA at around 22 years old. I am now around 40 years old. At no point in my career have I not been the youngest person in my team, unit or area, and everyone I have trained in my career has been older than me. This is not sustainable, long-term.
I agree with everything here. I’m a few years older than you are, and have a few more years of service. Where I am, there are some younger people than me, but the majority are still older.
DeleteI think around 20% of the agency has reached their MRA (or beyond) and can walk out at any point. You are right- it isn’t sustainable.
When I started, I made more than I did in the private sector. The job stability, pension, and benefits drew me in. There were no telework options for me anywhere, so that was not a deal breaker or deciding factor.
For anyone desperate enough to come to work at SSA right now- job security and stability are gone, the entry level pay for most jobs is lower than the private sector, and there are no workplace flexibilities in place. I know some people on this blog tell people who love telework to get over it, but the reality is it has become a recruitment and retention tool in today’s workforce, and it is something that today’s entering workforce will want. If the telework haters actually want SSA to function, that means hiring AND retaining more people, which means bringing back telework options, or increasing the pay by the 20% or so that we are now lagging behind the private sector.
Anyone left who could train others will now be answering the 800 number, or working other workloads, because there is no time to pull them away from work to help give good, quality training to new hires.
The workloads are too complex and convoluted for self-guided or minimal involved training. The type of training that new hires will now get will be setting people up for failure (if accuracy is looked at), or setting them up to screw up a ton of cases (if it’s just numbers that are looked at), which leads to more work fixing those mistakes.
SSA might be able to get people in the door who need a job, but they won’t stay. There are literally no longer any incentives for people to stay beyond looking for another job and leaving as soon as they can. And I can’t blame them, but that then wastes resources on training. I hope someone somewhere will look at not only hires, but also retention.
Our agency needs to be better than just a placeholder for the most desperate of workers. But we cannot accomplish that with the way things currently are.
My guess is that the agencies new model is to have everyone answering the phones and let cases drag on for months. In that manner, phones will be answered and stats will look great but there will be huge delays on processing cases. That’s what happens when 7k employees leave the agency. There are too many holes to fill on this sinking boat.
ReplyDeleteAnd, @5:10, in 2 yrs when the backlogs are too big to ignore the focus will shift away from phone wait times to processing times. The public & employees get the shaft while “leadership” pats themselves on the back.
DeleteWhat idiots are running the SSA? Doesn't anyone remember how SSA handled teleservice and it worked quite well. It started out on a small scale in each Region and each Region had small call centers serving their unique local areas. When teleservice was started nationally, large answering site were established in each Region operating under Rockwell ACDs fed via the national 800#. This provided coast to coast coverage from 7:00 am. EST until later in the evening. It was noted, call volumes and busy signals were not all occurring at the same time periods every day of the month. When teleservice had these call volume spikes, the BA's and CCRE's in the PSCs and WBDOC answered the phones. These "SPIKEs" were only put on during peak days in anticipation of high call volumes. Is there anyone in OTS still functioning? Have stats become so highly politicized only recognizing 1 or 2 indicators? Looks like the agency needs to recall those retirees from 10 years ago that knew how to handle call volumes. They disbanded the Regions and their unique support structures and staff and are now suffering from lack of unique Regional knowledge.
ReplyDeleteChecking in as newly assigned to the 800##.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have experience in Operations, it's been awhile. This job typically has 16 weeks of training. We're getting 8 hours, total. My notice said I am being assigned to assist with the agency's proven technology! If it's proven why is it not functioning?
The vacancy announcement said Telework is available. It's not.
The job postings say: "Telework eligible
DeleteYes—as determined by the agency policy." That's the thing - agency policy is that you generally don't get telework.
You got 8? I was in a “training” that had over 1k people in it, and the total training was 2.5hrs
DeleteWSU CS here. Was on the N8NN on Friday all day. Watched my voicemail count climb from none to 14. So I did zero of my own cases, talked to none of my own claimants all day.
ReplyDeleteFantastic use of my time.
Welcome to the club. It's been like this in the field since July.
DeleteWait. WSU actually talks to claimants? on the phone?
Deletethis should be a much bigger news story. HQ employees who have never seen a field office are being reassigned to handle calls.
ReplyDeletethis decision might not be as obvious as shooting a protester in the face but is still going to kill people.
It takes months for some of my cases to go from the FO to the DDS or hearing office. Once they win, they're going into pay quickly but retro benefits take months. EXRs are taking longer than the six months of provisional benefits (some work incentive!) and anything related to appealing or requesting waivers of overpayments is a mess--it often takes months just for SSA to pause withholding, let alone actually adjudicate them. The delays and mistakes end up causing more work--for example, if it takes a long time to put someone into pay (or back into pay after cessation was improper) they may need critical or immediate payments. There are just not enough people at the field offices and payment centers, and there are especially not enough people who understand the more complicated workloads. And there are real people going without real money as a result.
ReplyDeleteIt boggles the mind. In a tsc as a csr. They acted like they wanted us to quit or they hate us. They got rid of our alternative work schedules which we used to actually get some leave and they did it mid pay period last year which was so disrespectful. They got rid of our flex band and they got rid of our credit which gave work life balance. They took away a couple of perks as well at my building. There is a wsu and they let them keep the schedules and perks which I will not begrudge, its just higher ups reminded us constantly we were less. They even sometimes tell them go telework while we have to stay. I have been with the agency nearly two decades so its been such a blow. Morale is so low so no wonder Csts have quit. My unit lost about 4 in the last year with most retiring early saying they couldnt handle it anymore and thats just my unit. Ive lost many people in the building. If I could retire I would too. There is no carrot now just stick. I have not seen one positive thing for retention being told its for customer needs all the time.
ReplyDeleteHere is my take as an OS. We have a case that we have sent in 3 Manager to Manager and a Congressional submitted on it and the PC still has not put the record into pay. Nothing from the PC on it what so ever. Been doing this 16 years never have I seen this.
ReplyDeleteI hope people start filing mandamus cases in federal court on the very clear-cut issues, like paying retro benefits on awarded claims, halting collection of overpayments when appeals and waiver requests are filed, and statutory benefit continuation on eligible cessations.
DeleteThe SSA business model. What possibly could go wrong?
ReplyDeleteIRS tasks more staff without any tax experience to process tax returns
“This has the potential to be a disaster,” employees warn as the tax agency scrambles to prepare for the already underway filing season.