Social Security is making a change that could disrupt service for millions of Americans

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Social Security Administration will overhaul its workflow to accommodate a slimmed-down workforce and handle its cases on a nationwide basis — as opposed to addressing beneficiaries’ cases locally. That could lead to further service disruptions at an agency that handles benefits for about 75 million Americans.

The change, which will come in about two months, could lead to delays in service as employees are forced to learn the nuances of different state laws that could impact benefits. Rather than working as regional silos, each of the 1,200 local field offices will soon manage benefits nationally.

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The planned change comes after much upheaval at the agency. In the past year, the Social Security Administration has cut about 12% of its workforce — about 7,000 jobs — closed regional offices, replaced top leadership and changed its phone customer-service system. It has also encouraged beneficiaries to use online services, even as some older adults and people with disabilities have access issues.

The Social Security Administration will launch the National Appointment Scheduling Calendar (NASC) and National Workload Management (NWLM) for all field operations, digital services, and processing centers on March 7, Federal News Network recently reported.

“They can’t make up for the loss of 7,000 staff with this method,” said Wendell Primus, visiting fellow at the Center on Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, an independent think tank. “Even before all the changes, we needed more staff. We had backlogs. This is boneheaded and stupid.”

Read: Social Security’s new commissioner, rule reversals and cost cuts: Here’s everything that’s happening at the agency

Andy Sriubas, the Social Security Administration’s chief of field operations, told Social Security employees in a Nov. 25 memo that changes would be made to centralize the workload.

“For decades, our ~1,250 field offices have operated as independent ‘mini-SSAs.’ That model no longer serves the public or our people. It prevents true specialization, limits the impact of technology, and produces backlogs we should not sustain,” Sriubus wrote in a memo, according to the Federal News Network report.

When asked about the change, the Social Security Administration said, “Field offices are, and will always remain, our front line.”

However, the changes being made “will empower field office staff to focus on what they do best, resolving customers’ needs in-person with care, accuracy, and efficiency, while directing more complex cases and time-intensive tasks to specialized teams in a centralized environment,” the Social Security Administration said. “Leveraging our national scale, improved workflows, and modern technology, SSA will shift its strategy and goals to match our customers’ evolving service preferences.”

In addition to concerns about adequate staffing, analysts cited potential issues with a nationwide workforce lacking local knowledge of different state programs and policies. For example, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides benefits to those with limited income who are 65 or older, blind or disabled, has eligibility and payments that can vary by state.

Moving to a national caseload will require training and employee education, analysts said.

“It’s a big departure from how SSA has done business, so the most important thing is getting the implementation right. That means things like giving staff the resources they need to understand the nuances of 50 states’ laws for the many programs and policies that interact with Social Security and SSI, figuring out an efficient way to share paper documents nationwide, and adequately training staff on the new system,” said Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank.

“Getting this right will be particularly tricky for SSI. It’s not clear yet what SSA’s implementation plan is or if it’s sufficient – if not, the rollout could cause significant challenges for applicants. There are still problems with last year’s hasty switch to nationalizing phone service that have yet to be resolved,” Romig said.

The Social Security Administration on Thursday highlighted service changes made in the past year, saying 65% more calls were answered in fiscal 2025 than in the prior year, with the average speed of answer for the 800-number being in the single digits of hold time. A total of 90% of the calls are now resolved by self-service options or callbacks. Critics have cautioned that callback wait times can be over an hour.

Read: Social Security says its phone service is getting better — but watchdogs warn callback wait times can run over an hour

Both Primus and Romig said the Social Security Administration needs more staffing to handle the current workflow, no matter how the work is organized.

“Without adequate staffing, SSA can’t serve the public adequately. Right now, SSA doesn’t have enough front-line staff to meet the demand for timely service. Simply shifting workloads around won’t change that,” Romig said.