From Morningstar:
... The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents a total of 820,000 federal government workers, recently called on Congress to restore about $3 billion in funding to the SSA that was lost to budget cuts, and to boost the workforce by as much as 40% from current levels. ...
The SSA's administrative budget has fallen from 1.2% of benefit outlays in 2017 to 0.86% currently, which represents an annual loss of $3 billion in operating revenue, the union said. In comparison, private insurance companies are funded at roughly 20% of their benefit outlays, meaning that the SSA is deeply underfunded, the union said.
Meanwhile, SSA staffing has declined 14% during President Donald Trump's second term - from 57,384 in January 2025 down to 49,439 in June 2026 - a net loss of 7,945 employees, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. ...
18 comments:
Anecdotally, I'm only aware of a handful of new hires lately. There were a couple of summer interns scattered around the field offices who were only there a few weeks each before being terminated again, and a few DDS employees have been transitioned over to now technically work for SSA. Still waiting on them to beef up literally any phone or technical staff because those retirements are a constant erosion. They don't send around "In Memoriums" anymore but some coworkers have also just straight up passed away, and there's no acknowledgement of those people or their service. Pretty grim.
The US taxpayer has a debt of over 40 trillion dollars. Everybody and their uncle will be passing out the tin can. The request is reasonable but not realistic. The obvious game plan by this administration is to starve the beast and privatize the agency. The TrumpAccounts will be used to justify privatization since the younger generation will be “ rolling” in money. One problem, we are in AI bubble that’s about to pop. 🎈
SSA programs are also tremendously more complex than private insurance programs SSA runs on that disproportionately small budget. Yet about half of Americans confronted with all this information are so incurably stupid that they would conclude privatization of SSA would be more efficient. What a golden age we live in.
The national debt shouldn’t really be of concern as long as we don’t continue to elect illiterate old orange men of below average intelligence to destroy the nation’s credibility and economic viability.
USAjobs has perpetual TSC hiring. Few CS openings in specific offices and usually just 1 opening per posting. There are currently a lot of techie positions such as "COBOL devleoper" at GS-14-15.
Guess they realized they need workers.
If the Republicans get their way they will contract Social Security's work out to places like Prudential, Met Life and H&R Block.
Reasons we need more field office employee's. Pushing online filings is not the solution at SSA since many beneficiaries are not computer savvy. Isn’t it our job to serve the public who happen to pay our salaries?
“SSA Says Scammers Are Now Sending Fake Social Security Statement Emails — Here’s the Red Flag
Scammers use many strategies to get victims to part ways with their money, and Social Security recipients are a common target.
Fake Social Security statement emails have become more common, with the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Inspector General warning of a “significant increase” in government imposter emails earlier this year. Knowing the common red flags can help you avoid becoming a victim.”
“Instead of following the steps suggested by the potential scammer, head over to the SSA’s website and sign into your personal “my Social Security” account to review records and account information. That way, you go straight to the source instead of clicking what is very likely to be a fraudulent link in a scammer’s email.
Phishing isn’t limited to Social Security. Scammers will present themselves as other agencies and companies when attempting to steal your information. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises against clicking links or downloading attachments in unexpected messages.
Phishing also isn’t the only Social Security scam. Threats of arrest, claims that your Social Security number will be suspended, demands for immediate payment (especially through an alternative method like crypto or gift cards) or pressure to provide personal information are common scammer tactics.”
The national debt is not a concern? What happens if you max out on your credit cards? The bond market is the ultimate arbitrator and they don’t like the high debt. That’s why bond rates are spiking.
There’s been a lot of Tsc hiring. Literally taking the first people that apply and throw them on the phones without training. They give incorrect information until they quit. Rinse and repeat.
I feel like SSA is more collaborative than it’s ever have been and if the tech upgrades work out we will be fine.
That’s a mighty, mighty big if though.
It’s a nation not a household. Leave this to the adults.
SSA is hiring for front lines including a few hundred people to process continuing disability reviews. No question staffing was slashed without any thought. They were going for numbers without consequences. That said, comparing SSA to private insurance companies….something O’Malley loved to do…is disingenuous. Companies are for-profit. SSA is not. Companies are supposed to pay out per eligibility while also watching their assets and margins to make money, with ability to provide good service a driver to keep and gain policyholders. SSA pays based on rules/law eligibility without consequence to the trust funds. And while providing good service should be a goal, this Administration also knows its “customers” have no other choice. Let them eat cake. Except the cake also is much more expensive. But that’s another topic.
DCR is hiring 300 mostly current and. former DDS employees
you don't have to compare SSA to private insurers to see that administrative costs (for IT modernization, staffing, security, etc.) is less than it should be. Just compare it to SSA of 10, 20, 50 years ago and look at the ratio of benefits paid to admin costs, or staff to beneficiaries. And before you say that technology should have made it more efficient, that's only true to a point. Maybe you need fewer file clerks now but you need people to build and maintain the online systems, and not everything can be done online.
Absolutely not the case.
Most SSA employees don’t even want more employees. We want to be treated with dignity. Would love Frank to bring more AI and more telework. Bonuses and raises would be nice too. Otherwise, we are a happy and relaxed bunch. We’re just happy to be employed in this economy.
SSA employee here. I want more employees- but I want them to be trained well so that they can process things correctly. I also want them to be paid a livable wage so that we could get better hires.
I want them to be trained well? You think being a journeyman happens overnight ? It takes a couple of years to figure out the job. Turning SSA around doesn’t happen overnight.
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