Letter to the Editor: A decrease in service and an increase in time?

Why is the new administration dead set on reducing the number of federal employees? Last night I spent 3 hours and 45 minutes on hold with the Social Security Administration. Took less than 10 minutes when I finally talked to an efficient, helpful employee. That time on hold was excessive and miserable.

I am a retired Social Security employee so am familiar with how that bureaucracy works. The last job I held was rated to take two years to learn. It took longer than that to feel like I knew what I was doing. Do they intend to replace knowledgeable employees with new political hires that won’t have anyone to train them? Over a 30-year career, every time an administration wanted to cut costs they would freeze hiring and restrict cost of living increases. What happened every time was a decrease in service and an increase in processing times to the detriment of people who earned their benefits.

The SSA phone message on their toll-free number said that disability claims now take 200-230 days for an initial determination. That is a horrible amount of time for people who are unable to work. How will Senator Ernst and Senator Grassley properly serve their constituents when there are too few employees to do the work in a timely manner? Perhaps the touted DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) should instead be called DODGEY. It certainly has no idea that a well-run bureaucracy operates with an adequate number of well-trained, knowledgeable employees.

Linda Wormley

Newton