SSA head wants to beef up agency tech as it sheds thousands of staff

Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano has a “technology agenda” to improve productivity at the agency, which has shed thousands of staff since January, he told lawmakers Wednesday. 

SSA announced a plan to shed 7,000 workers, or about 12% of its already historically-low workforce, in February. 

At this point, SSA has lost nearly 3,700 employees this year, mostly through the Trump administration’s use of voluntary incentives to shrink the federal workforce, according to the commissioner’s written testimony. Apart from voluntary departures of staff, the agency also fully shuttered its civil rights and transformation offices, only to then later re-hire some of those employees. 

A longtime financial services businessman, Bisignano emphasized the role of technology at SSA while fielding questions from lawmakers about how their constituents would be able to access the agency over the phone and in field offices moving forward. 

Since January, reports of plans to close field offices have swirled, but Bisignano promised, “we’re not getting rid of field offices.” 

The agency has been a political lightning rod as it has faced leadership changes, customer service problems and headlines made by the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency accessing sensitive information about Americans — something the Supreme Court considered earlier this month, ultimately allowing DOGE to access the agency’s data.

Although billionaire Elon Musk has stepped back from his high-profile role in the effort, DOGE remains dispersed across agencies. SSA has three to four DOGE employees, the commissioner told lawmakers.

Most recently, SSA has gotten some pushback for changing its public performance metrics, something Bisignano told lawmakers was done in order to not discourage people from calling the agency’s phone lines.

“My vision for Social Security is clear: putting the customer first,” said Bisignano. “This will be driven by a technology agenda, while continuing to meet our customers where they want to be met, whether online, on the phone or in field offices.”

As for how the administration’s plans for technology intersect with the loss of staff, Bisignano said that technology can help improve morale and engagement, “not to make the people go away,” although he didn’t rule out the loss of staff.

“The real issue is bringing technology to make the jobs better, and we will eliminate fraud, waste and abuse through that technology, too,” he said.

The agency installed new anti-fraud checks in April following false claims from Musk and others about the level of fraud on the agency’s phone lines, only to later walk back parts of the policy after finding hardly any fraud. Processing holds associated with the anti-fraud checks were also slowing retirement processing.

Bisignano outlined a vision to use technology to push people to online services, move the agency off of paper, eliminate backlogs by automating tasks and add artificial intelligence to its phone services and to tools to help employees. 

The AI bot on the agency’s phone lines has reportedly been difficult to use. SSA wants to expand self-service options powered by AI to field office phone lines, too, according to the agency’s recent budget request, which includes a $600 million ask for IT. Bisignano previewed hiring for the agency’s technology work and in field offices in his written testimony, although it didn’t include specifics.

“The American people paid for quality, compassionate service from human employees on our 800-number and in our community-based field and hearing offices,” Rich Couture, a spokesman for AFGE’s SSA General Committee, told Nextgov/FCW. “Many want and prefer the human touch, especially when dealing with difficult times such as the loss of a family member.”

Although Bisignano touted the importance of Americans being able to reach the agency over the phones and in person, not just online, the agency’s frontline workforce hasn’t been spared from the loss of staff. Field office staffing is down by about 1,200 between fiscal 2024 and 2025, according to the agency’s budget justification. 

And though that document notes that “we will add new employees to our core mission positions on the frontlines and maintain critical services for the public,” tables included with that justification estimate around a thousand fewer full time employees at SSA field offices in fiscal 2026 than were recorded for 2025. 

Overall, 300 employees have been let go, Bisignano said during the hearing, also citing 6,700 employees taking voluntary retirements, which an agency spokesperson clarified was the projected number of full year losses for the agency.

“The losses we already incurred have disrupted all normal operations,” one current employee, not authorized to speak on the record, told Nextgov/FCW of staffing losses, noting that cuts in regional offices, for example, have left field offices without anyone to answer questions. 

“Reassignment of contractors and system staff from one priority to another have left staff scrambling to keep projects moving,” they said. “Morale is very low.”

About 2,000 employees have been reassigned to frontline positions as the agency thins out its regional and headquarter offices. Among the work those reassigned employees are doing is helping process disability claims in a new, centralized federal disability determination division.

But those reassigned employees face steep learning curves, as their previous jobs may not be relevant to their new roles, and there are now gaps left in headquarters and regional offices that support frontline workers, Kathleen Romig, director of social security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Nextgov/FCW.

This will lead to longer wait times and more errors, she predicted, noting that it typically takes two years for a claims representative or disability examiner to become proficient. 

“Without any of Commissioner Bisignano's promised technological solutions in place, the Trump Administration cut thousands of SSA staff — rapidly and with no plan in place,” said Romig. “SSA has fewer and less experienced staff serving the public with significantly less support from colleagues.”

While the technology goals outlined by Bisignano are “encouraging,” the agency will “need adequate testing and piloting,” Jack Smalligan — a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute who formerly worked at the Office of Management and Budget and recently helped write a report on SSA and AI — told Nextgov/FCW. 

“Increased productivity is great,” he said. But not “if it comes with reduced quality of service to the public.”