The Social Security Administration (SSA) is undergoing significant changes, as confirmed by Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano in a recent address. While widespread layoffs are not anticipated, employees are expected to embrace increased productivity with the help of new artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Bisignano emphasized that there are no current plans for a Reduction in Force (RIF).
Instead, he believes AI will play a crucial role in helping employees manage their workload more efficiently. “I have no intent to RIF people. If I wake up and find out we can do all our work with 20,000 people — which I can’t see that right now — we’ll be 20,000.
If I wake up and say, ‘We need 80,000,’ we’ll be 80,000. I’ve got to determine what the right staffing level is,” Bisignano said. One of Bisignano’s primary goals is to make the SSA a “digital-first” organization.
This effort includes overhauling the agency’s website to allow beneficiaries, particularly retirees and individuals with disabilities, to get their queries answered online rather than through more time-consuming phone or in-person interactions. In mid-April, an AI “anti-fraud” check for claims filed by telephone was launched. Although this added three days to the claim-processing time, Bisignano believes that being “client-first” necessitates being “digital-first.” “You’re competing with experiences that people have with Amazon.
If I can get something done at Amazon, why can’t I get something done the same way with Social Security? That’s how people think,” he asserted. Despite the significant shifts, Bisignano is also focused on improving employee satisfaction within the SSA.
Enhancing productivity with AI tools
The agency received low employee satisfaction scores among large federal agencies last year, according to data from the Partnership for Public Service’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government scorecard. “My job is to fix that.
I’m not going to improve your job satisfaction by giving more cookies, alright? No balloons. It’s how do we make the jobs more meaningful?
How do we service people well? How do we invest in technology?” he stated. Bisignano highlighted that deploying AI on the SSA’s phone lines is his top technology priority.
He envisions a future where AI can also handle more complex tasks, potentially reducing the long waiting times for claim approvals. “Do you think those people are happy waiting 230 days, 270 days? There’s a ton of things that AI can apply to move it along faster,” he noted.
However, he reassured employees that automation would not replace human jobs. Instead, it would relocate those jobs to other areas needing human expertise. The SSA is set on a path towards significant technological and operational changes under Bisignano’s leadership, focusing on integrating AI to improve service delivery and employee productivity.
As the SSA navigates these changes, it aims to address both the rising workload demands and the need for higher employee satisfaction.