United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Testimony 

Before the Committee on Finance, U.S. 

Senate

SOCIAL SECURITY 

ADMINISTRATION FIELD 

OFFICES 

Reduced Workforce Faces 

Challenges as Baby 

Boomers Retire 

Statement of Barbara D. Bovbjerg, Director 

Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues 

For Release on Delivery

Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT 

Thursday, May 8, 2008

 

GAO-08-737T 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

SSA field offices largely met work demands between fiscal years 2005 and 

2007 despite operating with fewer staff and an increased demand for services, 

but staffing reductions may have had some adverse effects. Field offices were 

able to minimize the impact of staffing reductions on work because staff 

productivity increased by 4.9 percent. SSA and its field offices used various 

strategies to manage its work with fewer staff. Field offices shared work 

among offices and redirected staff to meet critical needs. SSA also encouraged

customers to make greater use of Internet and other electronic services.

Additionally, SSA deferred work that it deemed a relatively low priority, such 

as conducting reviews of beneficiaries’ continuing eligibility. Deferring these 

reviews, means that beneficiaries who no longer qualify for benefits may still 

receive payments—which may decrease SSA’s chances of recovering the 

erroneous payments. Despite SSA efforts to manage the staffing reductions, 

customers experienced longer waiting times and more unanswered calls to

field offices, according to SSA data. Also, staff reported experiencing high 

stress levels and insufficient time for training. 

Comparison of Field Office Staffing and Work Completed, Fiscal Year 2005-2007

Fiscal year 

Number of field 

office employees

Field office work (in 

work units)

a

Work units completed 

per Employee

2005 28,790 37.1 million 1,289

2006 27,383 37.0 million 1,350

2007 26,743 36.2 million 1,352

Percent change, 2005 

to 2007 -7.1 % -2.5% +4.9%

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

a

SSA measures the amount of work produced by multiplying the volume of actions completed by

the amount of time required to complete each type of action. The result is what SSA terms 

“work units.” Because some types of actions take longer than others to complete, SSA views 

work units as a more precise measure than a simple count of the number of actions completed. 

Growth in claims from the nation’s baby boomers and a retirement wave of its 

most experienced staff may pose serious challenges for SSA if the agency

does not have a clear plan. The first wave of approximately 80 million baby 

boomers is reaching the age of retirement eligibility, and SSA estimates that 

retirement and disability filings will increase the agency’s work by 

approximately 1 million annual claims by 2017. To further compound this 

challenge, SSA projects that 44 percent of its workforce will retire by 2016.

Because retirements will occur among the agency’s most experienced staff, 

this will have a serious impact on field offices’ institutional knowledge. SSA is 

planning on hiring an additional 2,350 new employees this fiscal year for 

regional and field office operations, almost all of whom will go to the field 

offices. Agency officials stated, however, that it typically takes 2 to 3 years for

staff to gain the experience they need to function independently. SSA is using 

various strategies to recruit new employees to fill knowledge gaps. SSA is 

finalizing its Annual Strategic Plan which will describe the agency’s strategies 

for addressing these issues. 

Millions of people rely on the

services of Social Security

Administration (SSA) field offices. In 

fiscal year 2007, SSA’s 

approximately 1,300 field offices 

provided service to about 42 million 

customers. People use these offices

to apply for Social Security cards,

apply for retirement and disability 

benefits, establish direct deposit, 

and a host of other services. While 

customers may conduct their 

business using SSA’s online,

telephone, or other service options, 

many prefer the personalized 

contact provided in field offices. 

 

Over the last several years, staffing

reductions have challenged field 

offices’ ability to manage work, 

while continuing to deliver quality 

customer service. To assess how

field offices are managing these 

challenges, GAO was asked to

determine (1) the effect that reduced 

staffing levels may be having on field

office operations and (2) the 

challenges that SSA faces in meeting

future service delivery needs. 

This statement is drawn from GAO’s 

ongoing study on field offices for the 

committee, which is expected to be

issued later this year. To conduct 

this work, GAO interviewed SSA 

officials in headquarters, and other 

components, and analyzed various 

data on SSA’s workloads and other 

data. In commenting on a draft of 

this testimony, SSA said that GAO 

understated the connection between

staffing stresses from increased 

work demands and the agency’s 

funding shortfalls. 

 

May 2008

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FIELD 

OFFICES 

Reduced Workforce Faces Challenges as Baby 

Boomers Retire Highlights of GAO-08-737T, a testimony 

before theCommittee on Finance, U.S. 

Senate 

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on GAO-08-737T. 

For more information, contact Barbara 

Bovbjerg at 202-512-7215 or 

bovbjergb@gao.gov. 
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the state of Social Security 

Administration (SSA) field office services. SSA’s approximately 1,300 field 

offices are a vital component of SSA’s operations, serving approximately 

42 million customers in fiscal year 2007. Employing slightly less than half

of the agency’s 64,000 employees, field offices serve as SSA’s primary 

points for face-to-face contact with the public. People visit their local field 

offices to apply for Social Security cards and for Social Security benefits, 

to request replacement benefit checks, and for a host of other services. 

SSA has served the public for over 70 years. Recent staffing reductions are 

increasingly challenging field offices’ ability to meet the demand for 

services. My remarks today will address (1) the effect that staffing 

reductions may be having on field office operations and (2) the challenges 

SSA faces in meeting field service delivery needs in the future.

My written statement is based on our ongoing work for this committee, 

and we will provide you a full report later this year. To conduct our work, 

we interviewed SSA headquarters officials responsible for operations, 

budget, and strategic and human capital planning and obtained relevant 

documentation. We interviewed managers and staff in 21 field offices and 

two Social Security Card Centers to gain their perspectives on the effect of

staffing reductions. We selected a wide variety of the field offices based on

the size of the populations they served, their geographic location, the 

number of staff, and customer wait times. Table 7 lists the field offices we 

visited and their beneficiary populations. To gain further perspectives on 

the effect of field office staffing reductions, we interviewed officials in two 

SSA regional offices and three area offices. To assess field office waiting 

times, SSA provided us summary data. As we are currently in the process 

of completing our work, we have not yet validated SSA’s waiting time data. 

Our work is being conducted in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and

perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a 

reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit 

objectives. 

In summary, SSA field offices largely met work demands despite operating 

with fewer staff and an increased demand for services, but the lower 

staffing levels may have contributed to adverse effects. Field offices were 

able to minimize the impact of staffing reductions on work because staff 

productivity increased by 4.9 percent. SSA and its field offices used 

various strategies to manage its work with fewer staff. Field offices shared

work among offices and redirected staff from their usual responsibilities 

Page 1 GAO-08-737T 
to meet critical needs. SSA also encouraged customers to make greater 

use of Internet and other electronic services to conduct their business. 

Additionally, SSA deferred work that it deemed a relatively low priority, 

such as conducting reviews of beneficiaries’ continuing eligibility. 

Deferring these reviews, however, means that beneficiaries who no longer 

qualify for benefits may still receive payments—which may decrease SSA’s 

chances of recovering the erroneous payments. Despite SSA efforts to 

manage the staffing reductions, customers are experiencing longer waiting 

times and poor telephone service, according to SSA data. Between fiscal 

years 2002 and 2006, SSA reported that the average waiting time for field 

office service increased by 40 percent from about 15 minutes to 21 

minutes, and in fiscal year 2007, more than 3 million customers waited for 

over 1 hour to be served. Further, SSA’s 2007 Field Office Caller Survey 

found that 51 percent of customer calls to field offices went unanswered. 

These factors may have contributed to a 4 percent drop in SSA’s overall 

customer satisfaction rating from fiscal year 2005 to 2007. In addition, staff 

reported high levels of stress and a lack of time for training. 

As the oldest of the nation’s approximately 80 million baby boomers are 

now reaching the age of retirement eligibility, increases in retirement and 

disability filings and a significant retirement wave of SSA’s most 

experienced staff may pose difficult challenges for SSA to meet future 

service delivery needs without a clear plan for addressing them. SSA 

estimates that retirement and disability filings will increase the agency’s 

work by about 1 million annual claims by 2017. Further, SSA will 

experience an agencywide retirement wave in the coming years, and 

projects that 44 percent of its staff will retire by 2016. The retiring 

employees will be among the agency’s most experienced who account for 

decades of institutional knowledge. However, with an increase in its fiscal 

year 2008 funding, SSA is planning to hire an additional 2,350 staff in its 

regional and field offices this fiscal year, almost all of whom will go to 

field offices. Agency officials stated, however, that it typically takes 2 to 3 

years for staff to gain the experience they need to function independently. 

SSA is using various strategies to recruit new staff, including programs to 

hire and retain older workers to fill knowledge gaps. SSA is currently 

working to finalize its Annual Strategic Plan that is expected to describe 

the strategies for addressing these challenges. 

Almost all Americans have sought the services of SSA at some point in 

their lives, and for many, their first experience is applying for a Social Background 

Page 2 GAO-08-737T 
Security number (SSN).1

 SSA offers a range of services, which includes 

providing financial assistance to eligible individuals through the following 

three major benefit programs: 

• Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) provides benefits to retired 

workers and their families and to survivors of deceased workers; 

• Disability Insurance (DI) provides benefits to eligible workers who have 

qualifying disabilities, and their eligible family members; and 

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides income for aged, blind, or 

disabled individuals with limited income and resources. 

In fiscal year 2007, these three benefit programs provided a combined total 

of approximately $613 billion to about 54 million beneficiaries. SSA 

projects that the benefit payments and number of beneficiaries for the 

three programs will increase in fiscal years 2008 and 2009 (see tables 1 and 

2). 

Table 1: Federal Benefit Outlays for OASI, DI, and SSI Programs, Fiscal Years 2007 

to 2009 

Program 

Fiscal year 2007 

(actual)

Fiscal year 2008 

(estimate) 

Fiscal year 2009 

(estimate)

Dollars in billionsa

OASI $479.7 $502.5 $530.6

DI 97.0 102.9 109.5

SSI 36.0 41.2 43.2

Total Outlays $612.7 $646.6 $683.4

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

a

Totals may not add due to rounding. 

 1

SSA’s process of assigning SSNs to individuals is known as enumeration. 

Page 3 GAO-08-737T 
Table 2: Average Number of Beneficiaries for OASI, DI, and SSI Programs in

Payment Status, Fiscal Years 2007 to 2009 

Program 

Fiscal Year 2007 

(Actual)

Fiscal Year 2008 

(Estimate) 

Fiscal Year 2009 

(Estimate)

(number in millions)a

OASI 40.7 41.2 42.0

DI 8.7 9.0 9.3

SSI 7.0 7.2 7.3

Concurrent 

recipientsb

(2.6) (2.6) (2.7)

Total beneficiaries 53.8 54.7 56.0

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

a

Totals may not add due to rounding. 

b

Recipients receiving benefits from the OASI and SSI or DI and SSI programs. 

Besides paying benefits through these three programs, SSA issues Social 

Security cards, maintains earnings records, and performs various other 

functions through a network of field office and headquarters operations 

using an administrative budget of over $10 billion. SSA’s field operations 

consist of 

• field offices, which serve as the agency’s primary points for face-to-face 

contact, perform a full range of services, including making eligibility 

determinations for Social Security benefits; 

• Social Security Card Centers, which issue SSNs; 

• Teleservice Centers, which offer national toll-free telephone service; and 

• Program Service Centers, which make entitlement decisions for benefits, 

as well as assist in answering toll-free calls. 

Table 3 shows the type of work that is performed by various SSA field 

components. 

Page 4 GAO-08-737T 
Table 3: Type of Work Conducted by Various SSA Field Components

Type of work Function Field entities involved in this work 

Claims for OASI, DI, and 

SSI benefits 

Takes applications for benefits, evaluates evidence, and 

makes determinations of eligibility and benefit amounts. 

Makes nonmedical eligibility determinations for DI and SSI, 

but does not determine if individuals are medically eligible 

for disability payments. 

Field offices 

Teleservice Centers 

Program Service Centers 

Program Integrity Conducts continuing nonmedical eligibility reviews to 

ensure payment accuracy. 

Field offices (nonmedical eligibility 

reviews) 

SSNs Takes applications for and issues SSNs after determining 

the validity of required evidence. Also, updates records of 

people who have been issued SSNs to keep them current 

and accurate. 

Field offices 

Social Security Card Centers 

Earnings records Posts updates to workers’ records. Links the earnings 

records to SSNs and, when no match can be found, tracks 

the reported earnings and attempts to resolve the 

discrepancy. 

Field offices 

Program Service Centers 

Employment eligibility 

verification (E-Verify) 

Assists employers in verifying the 

name/SSN/citizenship/work authorization of new hires, and 

assists workers in resolving discrepancies between SSA 

and Department of Homeland Security data. 

Field offices

Medicare program 

assistance 

Takes applications and determines eligibility for the 

Medicare program and processes applications for 

replacement Medicare cards. Also, makes eligibility 

determinations and redeterminations for the prescription 

assistance subsidy offered under the Medicare Prescription 

Drug Program, among other Medicare work. 

Field offices

Source: GAO analysis of SSA information.

Field offices, which served approximately 42 million customers in fiscal 

year 2007, are a vital component for delivering SSA services to the public.

Field offices are located in communities across the United States, the 

Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and deliver services through faceto-face contact, over the phone, and through the mail. Field offices range 

in size from large urban offices with 50 or more employees to very small 

offices in remote areas called resident stations. In August 2007, there were 

approximately 1,271 field offices and 37 resident stations. Resident 

stations have more limited services and are staffed by one or two 

individuals in their homes or in a separate office (other than an SSA field 

office). Field offices also offer services to the public through about 1,200 

contact stations. These stations provide very limited functions and are 

staffed with one SSA field office employee who travels to certain 

locations, such as a hospital, once a month. Additionally, SSA has begun 

using video conferencing to take claims and provide other services to 

customers in remote locations in North Dakota, Wyoming, and South 

Page 5 GAO-08-737T 
Dakota. SSA is planning to expand the video network to provide additional 

sites and services. 

While SSA field offices take applications and determine if claimants meet 

basic, nonmedical eligibility requirements for DI and SSI disability claims, 

state Disability Determination Services (DDS) that are under contract with 

SSA make medical eligibility determinations for these claims. SSA’s 

Hearing Offices and Appeals Council make decisions on appeals of these 

determinations. Appendix II describes the functions of each of these 

entities in the medical disability determination process for DI and SSI 

claims. DDSs also conduct continuing disability reviews for DI and SSI 

beneficiaries to ensure that they are still medically eligible for payments. 

In addition to field offices, SSA offers customers a variety of other options 

for conducting their business. Individuals may call SSA’s toll-free helpline 

to file for benefits or to obtain general information. They may also use the 

Internet to file for benefits or visit a Social Security Card Center to request 

a Social Security card. Figure 1 shows the various options by which 

customers may conduct their business with SSA. 

Figure 1: SSA Service Delivery Options

• Visit an SSA field office to conduct face-to-face business with a staff person. 

 Range of services include:

 applying for Social Security benefits

 requesting change of address

 requesting change in direct deposit

 requesting Social Security card

• Call or mail in documents

• Self-help services available for requesting change of address and benefit verification letters

Toll-free telephone services

• Apply for retirement benefits

• Obtain answers to general questions

• Perform other actions

• Apply for retirement, disability, or spousal benefits

• Change address

• Change direct deposit

• Obtain Medicare replacement cards

• Perform other actions

• Visit a card center to request Social Security cards

Field offices

Teleservice Centers

Internet

Social Security Card Centers

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Page 6 GAO-08-737T 
Despite operating with fewer staff from fiscal year 2005 to 2007 and an 

increased demand for services, field offices largely met work demands; 

however, staffing reductions may have contributed to some adverse 

effects. SSA and its field offices used various strategies to manage work 

demands, such as sharing work among offices, redirecting staff to serve 

critical needs outside of their usual responsibilities, encouraging customer 

use of the internet and telephone services, and deferring certain work. 

Despite these efforts, many field office managers and staff stated that they

cannot keep up with their work. Reduced field office staffing may have 

contributed to customers waiting longer to be served, and customer calls 

to field offices are not always being answered. These factors may have 

contributed to a 4 percent drop in SSA’s customer satisfaction rating 

between fiscal years 2005 and 2007. In addition, staff are experiencing high

stress levels, lacking sufficient time for training, and facing other adverse

effects according to field office managers and staff. 

Field Offices Largely 

Met Work Demands 

with Fewer Staff, but 

Staffing Reductions 

May Have 

Contributed to Some 

Adverse Effects 

Increased Staff 

Productivity Helped 

Minimize Potential Impact 

of Staffing Decline 

Despite a 7.1 percent staffing decline during fiscal years 2005 to 2007, the 

amount of work that field offices produced decreased by only 2.5 percent.2

As a result, the average amount of work produced by field office staff 

increased by 4.9 percent between fiscal years 2005 and 2007 (see table 4). 

The field office staffing reduction comprised nearly 60 percent of SSA’s 

overall reduction (from 65,112 to 61,594 between fiscal years 2005 and 

2007). 

Table 4: Comparison of Field Office Staffing and Work Completed, Fiscal Year 2005

to 2007 

Fiscal Year 

Number of field

office employees 

Field office work 

(in work units) 

Work units 

completed per 

employee 

2005 28,790 37.1 million 1,289

2006 27,383 37.0 million 1,350

2007 26,743 36.2 million 1,352

Percent change, 

2005 to 2007 -7.1 % -2.5% +4.9%

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

 2

SSA measures the amount of work produced by multiplying the volume of actions

completed by the amount of time required to complete each type of action. The result is 

what SSA terms “work units.” Because some types of actions take longer than others to

complete, SSA views work units as a more precise measure than a simple count of the

number of actions completed. 

Page 7 GAO-08-737T 
SSA officials attribute the staffing reductions to inadequate appropriations 

and are concerned about growth in work required for other federal 

agencies. Table 5 shows the Commissioner’s and the President’s budget 

requests and SSA’s final appropriations for fiscal years 2002 to 2008. The 

table also shows the recent staffing decline. The table does note that SSA 

received a $500 million budget increase in 2005 to manage the 

implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug program and hire 

associated staff. In addition, other work that SSA conducts on behalf of 

other federal agencies has grown. For example, new state laws requiring 

federal government verification of work authorization are resulting in 

additional work and field office visits associated with the Department of 

Homeland Security’s E-Verify program. 

Table 5: Social Security Administration’s Limitation on Administrative Budget 

Account for Fiscal Years 2002 to 2008 

Fiscal year 

Commissioner’s 

request

President’s 

budget 

request 

Final 

appropriation

End of year 

SSA staff 

total

Dollars in millions

2002 $7,982 $7,574 $7,570 63,611

2003 7,974 7,937 7,885 65,191

2004 8,895 8,530 8,313 64,184

2005 9,310 8,878 8,733 a 65,122a

2006 10,106 9,403 9,109 63,054

2007 10,250 9,496 9,298 61,594

2008 10,440 9,597 9,745bN/A

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

Note: SSA’s Limitation on Administrative Expenses appropriation provides SSA with funding to 

administer the OASI, DI, and SSI programs, and to assist the agency in performing activities in 

support of the Medicare program. The appropriation provides a limitation on the amounts that may be 

expended, in total from the OASI, DI, SSI and Medicare programs, to meet the administrative 

expenses of the agency 

a

SSA’s final appropriation for fiscal year 2005 includes a $500 million appropriation for administrative 

start-up costs to implement the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act 

(MMA). The MMA created an outpatient prescription drug benefit that enables Medicare beneficiaries

to enroll in competing private drug coverage plans, and offers a prescription assistance subsidy for 

certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries. 

b

The appropriation amount shown is the enacted amount. 

Despite the staffing reductions, field offices served are serving a growing 

volume of visitors. Comparing the first 3 months of calendar years 2006 to 

2008, visitor volume increased by almost 450,000 (about 4 percent). SSA

field managers and staff told us that they also expect visitor volume to 

Page 8 GAO-08-737T 
increase with the retirement of the baby boomers. As figure 2 shows, from

fiscal years 2005 to 2007, SSA processed more OASI claims; postentitlement3 actions (other than for continuing eligibility reviews); 

enumerations; and Medicare actions. 4

 During the same time period, SSA 

processed fewer DI and SSI claims (nonmedical determinations only); 

continuing disability reviews; and SSI redeterminations. SSA attributes the 

high volume of post-entitlement actions to the growth in beneficiary 

populations.

 3

Post-entitlement actions are those occurring after customers become eligible for benefits 

that affect the amount or continuation of payment. Such actions include changes of 

address, benefit recomputations, overpayments, and reviews of DI and SSI beneficiaries’

status to determine their continuing eligibility for benefits. 

4

There are two types of reviews: 1) continuing disability reviews, which are conducted 

periodically to ensure that disability and SSI recipients continue to meet SSA’s definition of

disability, and 2) SSI redeterminations, which verify recipients’ living arrangements, 

income, and other nonmedical factors related to SSI eligibility. 

Page 9 GAO-08-737T 
Figure 2: Field Office Work Units Completed by Major Work Category, Fiscal Years 2005 to 2007 

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

Continuing disability Enumeration Medicare Other

reviews and

redeterminations

Post-entitlement

actions

OASI Disability SSI

Number of work units

Work category

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Fiscal year 2005

Fiscal year 2006

Fiscal year 2007

a

Other work includes resolving discrepancies in workers’ earnings statements, updating information 

for student benefits, and replacing lost checks. 

SSA Used Various 

Strategies to Manage 

Staffing Declines 

SSA is shifting work among field offices based on their workloads in an 

effort to increase overall efficiency. If a field office has work demands that 

it cannot immediately cover, that office can request that some work be 

transferred to another office. Offices that have a particular expertise in a 

certain type of work make themselves available, as they can process it 

more quickly. Field managers told us, however, that sometimes they are

reluctant to share work because the office that receives and processes the 

work receives numerical credit, which helps an office justify a greater staff 

level for the future. 

Managers are also using claims processing personnel to fill in as necessary

to perform the duties typically done by lower-graded employees, and in

some cases, even office managers take on the duties of their employees. 

Such duties include answering the telephone, providing initial services to

arriving customers, processing requests for new or replacement Social

Page 10 GAO-08-737T 
Security cards, and conducting some administrative duties. While all field 

office personnel recognize the need to serve visitors, many also told us 

that such work is taking away from time spent processing claims and 

managing the office. 

SSA is encouraging customers to use automated services to help field 

offices accomplish their work. However, many field staff said that real 

gains in the use of automated services will only likely be achieved by

future generations of customers. SSA’s vision for its “eService” program is 

that the public, businesses, and government agencies will be able to 

conduct all business through secure, electronic channels—thereby 

increasing the efficiency with which the agency can serve the public. SSA 

reported that in 2007 the public performed 2.9 million electronic 

transactions, such as applying for disability benefits or requesting a 

change of address. SSA’s electronic services are available to the public 

over the Internet and by telephone, using the voice recognition capabilities 

of SSA’s toll-free number. While field office staff and managers welcome 

automated tools that the public can use, some added that relatively few 

customers use them, and that due to erroneous or missing information in 

online forms, field staff can lose time having to contact the customers for 

clarification or more information. While they believe that automated tools 

should continue to be developed, many managers and staff told us that 

these tools are not a sufficient to compensate for reduced staffing levels. 

Finally, with fewer staff available, SSA focused on field office work it 

considered essential to its “core workloads,” such as processing new 

claims for Social Security benefits and issuing Social Security cards, but 

deferred other types of work. Field office managers and staff told us that

certain post entitlement actions are typically delayed or deferred, when an

office is under stress, including changes of address, changes to direct 

deposit information, and reviews to determine beneficiaries’ continuing 

eligibility for DI and SSI benefits. Reviews of continuing eligibility, 

however, are key activities in ensuring payment accuracy. SSA estimates 

that continuing disability reviews yield a lifetime program savings of $10 

for every dollar invested, and SSI redeterminations yield a lifetime 

program savings of $7 for every dollar invested. 

In recent years, SSA has not been able to conduct as many reviews as it 

had planned, citing budget limitations and an increase in core work (see 

fig. 3). When reviews of benefits are delayed, some beneficiaries may 

continue to receive benefits when they no longer qualify. While delays in 

these reviews relieve work pressure, some field managers and staff told us

that such delays cause future challenges when staff attempt to obtain 

Page 11 GAO-08-737T 
necessary documentation over multiple years, and overpayments accrue to 

the point that beneficiaries have difficulty repaying benefits for which they 

were not eligible. 

Figure 3: Number of SSI Redeterminations and Continuing Disability Reviews 

Completed, Fiscal Years 2002 to 2007 and Projected Fiscal Years 2008 to 2009 

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Number of SSI redetermination and continuing disability reviews

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Fiscal year

SSI Nondisability redeterminations

Continuing disability reviews

Despite SSA’s efforts to manage work with reduced staff, managers 

responding to a survey conducted in February and March 2007 by the 

National Council of Social Security Management Associations (NCSSMA)5

stated that many of them are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up

with the work. On average, the managers responding to the survey 

estimated that they would need a staffing increase of 16.7 percent to 

provide adequate public service. In the offices we visited, most of the 

managers also told us that they did not have an adequate number of staff. 

 5

This organization represents SSA field office managers and Teleservice Center managers.

Page 12 GAO-08-737T 
According to SSA officials, staffing imbalances resulted in a buildup of 

1,000 workyears, for work that SSA was not able to complete6

 by the end 

of fiscal year 2007. SSA projects that the buildup will grow to 4,800 

workyears by the end of fiscal year 2009; however, officials said that they

are re-evaluating this figure in light of increases in productivity and 

overtime. Staff reductions may have also led to longer customer waiting 

times. Between fiscal years 2002 and 2006, the average waiting time to first 

contact for all customers increased by 40 percent from 15 to 21 minutes 

(see fig. 4). Nationally, 8 percent of customers—about 3 million people—

waited more than 1 hour, which included 420,000 customers who waited 

more than 2 hours for service in fiscal year 2007 (see table 6). We also 

found significant variation in waiting times among field offices for 

customers without appointments. For example, for customers without 

appointments, more than 300 offices had average waiting times of less 

than 10 minutes, while 23 offices had average waiting times that exceeded

1 hour in fiscal year 2007. Further, customers without appointments 

during that period waited more than 1 hour on average at four of the 

offices we visited. In contrast, customers at the office in Devils Lake, 

North Dakota, waited on average for less than 1 minute (see table 9). We

found that customers with appointments waited significantly less time 

than those without appointments. For example, SSA reported that 1,214 

offices had waiting times of less than 10 minutes for customers with 

appointments, while only two had waiting times of more than 1 hour. 

Staffing Reductions May 

Have Contributed to a 

Buildup of Certain Work, 

Longer Customer Waiting 

Times, More Unanswered 

Customer Calls, and Other 

Adverse Effects 

 6

This work does not include DI and SSI disability claims backlogs at the DDS, Hearing

Office, or Appeals Council levels. 

Page 13 GAO-08-737T 
Figure 4: SSA Average National Waiting Times, Fiscal Years 1994 to 2006 

0

5

10

15

20

25

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Number of minutes

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Fiscal year

Note: Fiscal year 2006 data is from October 2005 to June 2006. 

Table 6: Fiscal Year 2007 Waiting Times 

Waiting times (in minutes) Number of customers Percentage of total

0-60 33,739,090 91.7%

61-120 2,616,920 7.1

More than 120 420,245 1.1

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

Insufficient staffing may have also been a factor in poor office phone 

coverage and other adverse effects on customer service. SSA’s 2006 Field

Office Caller Survey found that 51 percent of customer calls to 48 

randomly selected field offices went unanswered. Because SSA based its 

results only on customers who were ultimately able to get through to the 

field offices, the actual percentage of calls that went unanswered may 

have been higher. 7 In addition, staff at 13 of the 21 offices we visited 

characterized their phone service as inadequate, while 2 of these offices 

did not answer their offices’ phones at all. Employees we interviewed also

 7

The survey was based on interviews with 862 sampled callers. 

Page 14 GAO-08-737T 
cited inadequate telephone service as a common customer complaint at 15

offices. In 2007, officials told us they initiated a pilot program called 

“Forward on Busy” in 25 field offices to address these deficiencies. Under

the pilot, calls receiving a busy signal at field offices are automatically 

forwarded to a Teleservice Center. SSA plans to expand the pilot to a total 

of 100 field offices. In addition to poor phone service, staff at some of the 

offices we visited indicated that they now have less time to spend with 

customers. This limited time potentially could lead to mistakes and limit 

the ability of staff to ensure that customers fully understand their options 

and benefits. These factors may have contributed to a 4 percent drop in 

SSA’s customer satisfaction rating between fiscal years 2005 and 2007. 

SSA has not established performance standards for customer waiting 

times and field office telephone service, nor does the agency measure 

customer service at individual field offices. Without such standards and 

measures, SSA has no systematic way of evaluating field office

performance, or identifying offices that need improvement. While SSA 

provides field offices with customer comment cards, at 10 of the 21 offices 

we visited, officials told us they did not use them, and where the cards 

were available, the results were not always systematically tabulated. 

Work demands and staffing reductions have increased the pressure placed 

on the field office staff, resulting in higher stress and lower morale, 

according to field office staff. We asked 153 SSA employees at the 21 

offices we visited to rate the stress that they experienced in attempting to 

complete their work in a timely manner, and 65 percent of those surveyed 

reported feeling stress to a “great” or “very great” extent on a daily basis. 

The stress of expanding workloads and staffing constraints was felt most 

acutely by the office managers, 74 percent of whom described high levels

of stress. At many offices, staff indicated that mounting workload 

pressures have led to cutbacks in the amount of time allocated for training 

and mentoring new staff. In addition, managers and staff told us that they 

often do not have time to take their breaks, including lunch. Some staff 

told us they feel they are letting down their colleagues and feel guilty 

about taking time off, regardless of whether they use credit hours or 

annual leave. While these responses may not be indicative of the opinions

of the overall field office workforce, they do suggest that increasing 

demands placed on SSA staff may be diminishing their job satisfaction, 

potentially with long-term implications for employee retention. SSA 

officials acknowledged that growing workloads have seriously

compromised agency morale and that they have tried to ease the stress on 

staff by authorizing the use of overtime. 

Page 15 GAO-08-737T 
Retirement and disability filings by the nation’s approximately 80 million 

baby boomers are projected to significantly increase SSA’s workload, 

providing additional stress on the field office workforce. SSA estimates a 

13 percent rise in claims filed among its three major claims types over the

next 10 years, rising from 9.4 million in fiscal year 2008 to 10.7 million in 

fiscal year 2017 (see fig. 5). 

Figure 5: Projected Growth in Field Office ASI, DI, and SSI Claims, Fiscal Years 2008

to 2017 

Growth in Work 

Demands and an 

Employee Retirement 

Wave May Pose 

Serious Challenges 

for Service Delivery in 

the Future without a 

Clear Plan 

0

2,000,000

4,000,000

6,000,000

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Number of claims receipts

Fiscal year

SSI

DI

OASI

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

A growth of 22 percent in the number of beneficiaries, from about 49.6 

million in calendar year 2007 to about 60.5 million in calendar year 2015, is

also projected.8

 By 2050, there will be an estimated total of 95.6 million 

OASI and DI beneficiaries (see fig. 6).

 8

The Board of Trustees’ 2008 Report provided data on the number of actual OASI and DI 

beneficiaries through 2007 and then made projections for 5-year spans in the future (e.g., 

2010, 2015, etc.). No similar data are available for the SSI program. 

Page 16 GAO-08-737T 
Figure 6: Actual and Projected Number of OASI and DI Beneficiaries, Calendar 

Years 2007 to 2050 

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2007 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

Number of beneficiaries

Source: SSA, 2008 Annual Report of the OASI Trustees.

Calendar year

SSA’s ability to meet its growing workload challenges will be more 

difficult with the anticipated retirements of many of the agency’s most 

experienced field office workers. Today, 25 percent of all SSA employees 

are eligible to retire, and that figure will grow to 39 percent in the next 5 

years. Based on the agency’s projections, 44 percent of today’s SSA 

workforce will retire by 2016. The peak of these retirements began in 2007 

and is expected continue into 2009, before starting to decline gradually 

(see fig. 7). SSA’s projections suggest that the ranks of SSA’s supervisors 

will be most affected, with 71 percent eligible to retire in the next 10 years.

These will be the agency’s most experienced staff, which will mean a loss 

of decades of institutional knowledge. For 2008 in particular, SSA 

estimates that it will lose about 2,000 staff to full or early-out retirements. 

Field office managers and staff at many of the locations we visited stated 

that it typically takes 2 to 3 years for new employees to become fully 

proficient. Therefore, staff hired now may not reach full proficiency before

the peak of the retirement wave. Also, new hires would benefit from being 

mentored by veteran employees before the latter retire. As a result of the 

approximately $150 million that SSA was appropriated above its request in 

the President’s budget for fiscal year 2008, SSA will hire an additional 

3,900 staff for operations. This will include 2,350 new hires for regional 

and field office operations, almost all of whom will go to field offices. SSA 

Page 17 GAO-08-737T 
officials stated that the increase in staffing will put the agency back at its 

fiscal year 2005 staffing level. 

Figure 7: Actual and Projected Retirements of SSA Staff, Fiscal Years 2007 to 2016 

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Number of retirements

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Fiscal year

SSA has used a variety of strategies to maintain adequate staffing. SSA 

offers recruitment, relocation, and retention bonuses to individuals with 

needed skills and considers employees’ private sector experience when 

computing annual leave. SSA also offers workplace flexibilities to assist 

workers in balancing work and family. Additionally, SSA uses dual 

compensation (salary offset) waivers from the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) to respond to emergency conditions9 and to hire for 

certain hard-to-fill positions. For example, SSA was granted a waiver to reemploy federal annuitants who retired under an early-out authority to 

provide relief in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Further, 

SSA has developed recruiting efforts that reach out to a broader pool of 

candidates. For example, SSA began recruiting retired military and 

disabled veterans in 2002 because of its commitment to helping veterans. 

 9

This authority allows agencies to waive the dual compensation reduction (salary offset) 

otherwise required for re-employed federal civilian annuitants. OPM authorizes agencies to 

use this authority to respond to emergencies resulting from a war or natural disaster or to 

hire for hard-to-fill positions. 

Page 18 GAO-08-737T 
SSA currently lacks a plan to address the mounting service delivery 

challenges that it faces, though officials told us that they are currently 

working to finalize the agency’s Annual Strategic Plan, which is expected

to address these issues. We recommended, as early as 199310 and most 

recently in 2000,11 that the agency develop a plan to meet its 

responsibilities in the context of resource constraints and other 

challenges. At that time, we suggested that the plan take into account 

changing customer needs and expectations; the views of oversight bodies 

and interest groups; and other future challenges, such as growing 

workloads. We also specified that the plan should spell out, for the future, 

who will be providing what type of services and where these services will 

be made available. In the absence of this kind of overarching strategy, SSA

may be unable to effectively marshal its key resources to meet the 

challenges described above. 

Recent staffing declines may have been a factor in reducing field offices’ 

ability to complete all of their work while providing quality customer 

service. In managing staffing reductions, customers are waiting longer to 

be served, their calls to field offices frequently go unanswered, certain

stewardship activities are being deferred, and staff are stressed. Projected

increases in claims for benefits from the nation’s approximately 80 million 

baby boomers and a large retirement wave among SSA’s most experienced 

staff will place additional pressure on field offices, and SSA may find it 

increasingly difficult to manage without a clear plan for addressing these 

challenges. SSA is currently working to finalize its Fiscal Year 2008 Annual 

Strategic Plan. Strategic planning for service delivery and staffing before 

SSA’s workload grows beyond available resources is essential. In a time of

budgetary constraints, thinking creatively about service delivery and how

best to operate efficiently and effectively will be important aspects of 

SSA’s planning effort. The time for SSA to prepare itself for the future is 

running out and without a clear direction SSA will not be prepared to meet

its service delivery challenges. 

Conclusions 

 10GAO, Social Security: Sustained Efforts Needed to Improve Management and Prepare 

for the Future GAO/HRD-94-22 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 27, 1993). 

11GAO, SSA Customer Service: Broad Service Delivery Plan Needed to Address Future

Challenges GAO/T-HEHS/AIMD-00-75(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 10, 2000). 

Page 19 GAO-08-737T 
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to

respond to any questions you or other members of the committee may 

have at this time. 

For further information regarding this testimony, please contact 

Barbara D. Bovbjerg at (202) 512-7215 or bovbjergb@gao.gov. Contact 

points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may 

be found on the last page of this statement. Individuals making key 

contributions to this testimony include Blake Ainsworth (Assistant 

Director), Mary A. Crenshaw, Paul Wright, Matthew Lee, and Charlie 

Willson. 

We provided SSA with a draft of our testimony for their comment. In their 

response, SSA said that the testimony understated the connection between 

the stress that field offices are under from increased work demands and 

the agency’s funding shortfalls. SSA stated that its current business model 

is non-sustainable and that past underfunding has forced the agency to 

shift resources from less visible—though vital—areas to process the most 

critical workloads. SSA also said that it is using its current strategic plan 

and operational plan to meet its many challenges. In order for its plans to 

succeed, SSA stated that it must be properly and timely funded on a 

sustained basis. 

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation 

In response, we acknowledge the service delivery challenges that SSA 

faces, and believe that we have fairly characterized field office staffing 

declines as a significant factor in meeting work demands and the resulting 

adverse effects. Ensuring that SSA has the resources to meet future 

service deliver challenges is essential. However, we continue to believe 

that SSA must employ a more strategic and creative approach to meet 

these challenges. 

Page 20 GAO-08-737T 
Page 21 GAO-08-737T 

Appendix I: Data on SSA Field Offices GAO 

Visited 

Table 7: List of Social Security Administration Field Offices GAO Visited and Their 

Beneficiary Populations, as of September 30, 2006 

Field office

Old-Age and Survivors 

Insurance and Disability 

Insurance beneficiary 

population 

Supplemental

Security Income 

beneficiary 

population

New York Washington Heights, 

Brooklyn, N.Y.

6,584 14,075

Brooklyn Avenue X, N.Y. 9,697 21,911

Anacostia, Washington, D.C. 4,209 7,690

Fairfax, Va. 3,871 2,225

Culpeper, Va. 2,659 1,222

Wheaton, Md. 4,664 3,491

Casa Grande, Ariz. 4,852 2,902

Mesa, Ariz. 16,383 6,438

Inglewood, Calif. 7,987 12,475

Los Angeles Downtown, Calif. 4,226 12,286

Orlando, Fla. 20,892 17,325

Leesburg, Fla. 12,584 5,255

Alice, Tx. 3,018 3,350

San Antonio Northwest, Tex. 15,481 13,429

McAllen, Tx. 13,066 19,873

Devils Lake, N. Dak. 687 450

Grand Forks, N. Dak. 4,318 1,999

Freeport, Ill. 2,090 969

Bloomingdale, Ill. 5,876 1,875

Cayey, P.R. 10,074 1

Arecibo, P.R. 22,469 4

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

a

Devils Lake is a resident station under the Minot, North Dakota Field Office. 
Table 8: Staffing Levels during Fiscal Years 2005 to 2007 for the Field Offices 

Field Office

Number of 

staff fiscal 

year 2005

Number of 

staff fiscal 

year 2006 

Number of 

staff fiscal 

year 2007

Numerical 

change (2007 

compared to

2005)

New York 

Washington Heights, 

Brooklyn, N.Y. 

36 31 34 -2

Brooklyn Avenue X, 

N.Y. 

56 53 46 -10

Anacostia, 

Washington, D.C. 

22 22 22 0

Fairfax, Va. 24 21 21 -3

Culpeper, Va. 9 9 10 1

Wheaton, Md. 27 23 25 -2

Casa Grande, Ariz. 11 11 11 0

Mesa, Ariz. 69 54 49 -20

Inglewood, Calif. 42 39 37 -5

Los Angeles 

Downtown, Calif. 

61 59 60 -1

Orlando, Fla. 77 69 67 -10

Leesburg, Fla. 35 33 30 -5

Alice, Texas 14 12 12 -2

San Antonio NW, 

Tx. 

55 53 53 -2

McAllen, Texas 71 70 68 -3

Devils Lake, N. Dak. 2 2 2 0

Grand Forks, N.Dak. 15 12 13 -2

Freeport, Ill. 6 7 6 0

Bloomingdale, Ill. 24 22 21 -3

Cayey, P.R. 8 6 10 2

Arecibo, P.R. 19 19 18 -1

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

Page 22 GAO-08-737T 
Table 9: Visitor Volume, Staff and Waiting Time Data during Fiscal Year 2007 for 

Offices GAO Visited

Field office

Number of 

visitors

Number of 

staff

Waiting times 

with an

appointment,

in minutesa

Waiting times 

without an 

appointment,

in minutes 

New York 

Washington 

Heights, Brooklyn, 

N.Y. 55,404 34 61.4 54.6

Brooklyn Avenue 

X, N.Y. 35,369 46 17.1 16.2

Anacostia, 

Washington, D.C. 41,315 22 13.1 39.2

Fairfax, Va. 42,581 21 0 41.6

Culpeper, Va. 15,003 10 0 10.8

Wheaton, Md. 39,741 25 12.8 62.1

Casa Grande, 

Ariz. 23,135 11 0.1 18.7

Mesa, Ariz. 67,125 49 5.7 65.3

Inglewood, Calif. 53,440 37 1.2 53.1

Los Angeles 

Downtown, Calif. 69,019 59 0.2 20.4

Orlando, Fla. 89,319 67 4.3 51.9

Leesburg, Fla. 30,060 30 0.1 29.4

Alice, Tx. 16,424 12 0 16.3

San Antonio NW, 

Tx. 64,459 53 0 48.7

McAllen, Tx. 93,682 68 0 43.7

Devils Lake, N.

Dak. 4,587 2 0 0.2

Grand Forks, N. 

Dak. 12,089 13 5.0 9.8

Freeport, Ill. 10,490 6 0.1 8.5

Bloomingdale, Ill. 41,421 21 6.6 28.6

Cayey, P.R. 2,650 10 14.6 128.5

Arecibo, P.R. 28,404 18 0 72.8

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

a

Waiting times are measured from the time that customers sign into the Visitor Intake Process until 

the time of customers’ first contact with an SSA staff person.

Page 23 GAO-08-737T 
Page 24 GAO-08-737T 

Appendix II: Processsing Medical Disability 

Determinations for Disability and Supplemental 

Security Income Insurance Claims 

Field offices rely on state Disability Determination Services (DDS) and 

various Social Security Administration (SSA) entities to make medical 

disability determinations for claims filed under the Disability (DI) and 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) insurance programs. Field offices 

begin the application process for these claims and determine if claimants 

meet basic requirements for the applications based on nonmedical factors 

of the programs. For example, for DI claims, field offices determine if 

workers or their dependents quality for benefits based on the worker’s 

years of work. For SSI claims, field offices determine if claimants meet 

income requirements. If basic requirements are met, field offices forward 

the application to the state DDS to make initial determinations of disability 

based on medical and work-related factors. For claimants found to be 

eligible, field offices initiate action to begin payments. If claimants are not 

satisfied with the determination, they may request reconsideration with a 

different group within DDS. If claimants are not satisfied with the second 

determination by DDS, they may request further reconsideration with 

SSA’s hearing office and then SSA’s Appeals Council. Figure 8 provides a 

visual depiction of this process. Over the years, backlogs of varying 

degrees have occurred at the DDS, Hearing Office, and Appeals Council 

levels, leaving claimants waiting for years to have their claims decided. In

recent years, SSA has taken actions to decrease these backlogs. 
Figure 8: SSA’s Disability Determination Process 

Claimant contacts

SSA field offices

Application process begins

SSA field office personnel

➤ Obtain information and store in 

 electronic record

➤ Determine eligibility for 

 nonmedical factors

If nonmedical eligibility factors are met, 

application is forwarded to DDS

Initial determination

State DDS personnel

➤ Gather, develop, and review 

 medical and nonmedical evidence

➤ Decide eligibility on basis of 

 medical and work-related factors

If determination is not favorable, 

claimant has 60 days to request 

a reconsideration

Reconsideration

State DDS personnel (different group)

➤ Reexamine prior and any 

 new evidence

➤ Render a new, independent 

 eligibility decision

If reconsideration is not favorable, 

claimant has 60 days to request a

hearing before an administrative 

law judge (ALJ)

Administrative law judge

hearing

SSA hearings office personnel 

➤ Review for additional medical evidence

➤ Conduct a hearing and render a

 new decision by videoconference 

 or in person

If ALJ decision is not favorable, claimant 

has 60 days to request an Appeals

Council review

Appeals Council

SSA Appeals Council 

➤ Decide whether to review 

 the case and new evidence

➤ If case is reviewed, decides

 whether to reverse decision or

 return case to ALJ

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data.

Page 25 GAO-08-737T 
Page 26 GAO-08-737T 

Related GAO Products 

Social Security Disability: Better Planning, Management, and 

Evaluation Could Help Address Backlogs (GAO-08-40, Dec. 7, 2007). 

Social Security Administration: Additional Actions Needed in Ongoing 

Efforts to Improve 800-Number Service (GAO-05-735, Aug. 8, 2005). 

SSA Customer Service: Broad Service Delivery Plan Needed to Address 

Future Challenges (GAO/T-HEHS/AIMD-00-75, Feb. 10, 2000). 

SSA’s Management Challenges: Strong Leadership Needed to Turn Plans

Into Timely, Meaningful Action (GAO/T-HEHS-98-113, Mar. 12, 1998). 

Social Security Administration: Significant Challenges Await New 

Commissioner (GAO/HEHS-97-53, Feb. 20, 1997). 

Social Security Administration: Effective Leadership Needed to Meet 

Daunting Challenges (GAO/HEHS-96-196, Sept. 12, 1996). 

Social Security: Sustained Effort Needed to Improve Management and 

Prepare for the Future (GAO/HRD-94-22, Oct. 27, 1993). 

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