Labor Management Relations- Vice President of the American Federation of Government Employees Local C220, Donna Winston, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and talked about the understaffing issues with the Social Security Administration. Winston also discussed the causes of the high turnover rate with new employees and what could be done to improve the staffing situation.
For many years the Social Security Administration has been understaffed. Winston said that understaffing reached a critical level after the pandemic. Winston talked about the staffing when she started, seeing 50 workers run the office that now staffs 10. The staffing issues have gotten so bad there are now 600 cases are awaiting decisions at her office.
Contributing to the staffing problems, the Social Security Administration has seen a high turnover rate among new employees. Winston believes that much of this turnover is due to the need for better training. Many new employees are instructed to learn through modules on a computer. There is no hands-on training until they are put on the floor and asked to do the job like a veteran employee. The stress of being asked to handle the overload of cases and the lack of training is why so many new hires leave the job within their first year.
When asked what could fix the problems, Winston provided a list. The most crucial solution Winston discussed is the lack of funding for Social Security. Without more funding, there can be no improvements made to the training plan or to train current employees as trainers. If there’s hope in improving the staffing needs, then there needs to be a proper training program to retain new hires. But without an improved budget, that isn’t likely to happen, Winston said.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.