Social Security’s more than 1,200 local field offices are the community-based front door for the agency, serving over 119,000 visitors per day on average. Americans visit their local Social Security Administration (SSA) office to apply for benefits, replace identification cards, and get answers to complex questions.
In February 2025, the Trump administration announced a plan to cut 12% of SSA’s workforce, or about 7,000 workers, by the end of fiscal year 2025. At the same time, the Trump administration announced multiple policy changes that led to increased fear and worry among Social Security beneficiaries that drove many of them to visit SSA field offices. Social Security workers reported that beneficiaries were being turned away from crowded office lobbies and were told to put their names on waiting lists for appointments.
The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) analyzed detailed SSA workforce data from March 2024 and March 2025 and found that staff losses at SSA field offices were widespread, with 46 states losing field office staff. These job losses were not only far-reaching but also severe, with more than 30% of field offices losing at least 10% of their staff. Further, the main impact of the Trump administration’s mass buyout and early retirement programs came after March 2025, suggesting that current staff losses are likely larger than this data shows.