The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced in a new agency blog post on Monday that it is delivering faster service across online, phone and in-person channels.
The SSA also said it posted operational gains that saved Americans 43 million hours over the past year.
Why It Matters
The SSA said improved digital and phone services could reduce time burdens for beneficiaries and applicants by enabling online account management and automated services. More than 70 million Americans rely on Social Security payments.
The SSA has received criticism in recent months under President Donald Trump‘s administration. The federal agency announced it would be cutting staff levels from 57,000 to 50,000 under the direction of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sparking concerns over customer service and benefit cuts down the line.
“The Social Security Administration continues to report the good news of improved response times by phone and greater utilization of online services,” Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek.
“But in order to improve those phone metrics, some front-line SSA workers have been reassigned to cover the agency’s 800 number, which is causing a strain in other areas. The decrease in staffing plus the reassignments have some SSA worker reps reporting that too many employees are at their maximum stress level.”
What To Know
The SSA reported that it handled more customer requests with shorter waits. Additionally, online transactions were growing, as more people used their personal “my Social Security” accounts to check benefits, update records, apply for benefits, and request replacement cards.
Nearly 90 percent of callers used automated phone services, and average wait times for callers who needed agents fell from 24 minutes in July 2024 to eight minutes in July 2025. Meanwhile, the SSA’s phone answer rate increased to 78 percent, according to the report.
The SSA’s post also said that scheduling in-person appointments produced an average office wait of about six minutes and that retirement and survivors’ claims were being processed faster than before.
Not everyone is convinced that the SSA’s reports of improvement translate into better customer service for the average Social Security recipient, however.
“The SSA has tried to modernize the system with more automation, which sounds good on paper, Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. “For those using the online tools, there’s a bit more convenience. But for people who actually have to call or deal with the SSA directly, the story is different.”
Thompson said he tested the SSA’s 8-minute average hold time claim, and at 8:35 a.m. CST Monday, he was given a wait time of 50 minutes.
“The numbers they’re promoting aren’t matching reality,” Thompson said. “From what I’m seeing and hearing, most beneficiaries aren’t experiencing faster service. If anything, they’re waiting just as long, if not longer.”
“When you’ve got 50-minute hold times first thing in the morning, you know it’s only going to get worse as the day drags on. And here’s the bigger problem: the math does not work. You can’t cut headcount while adding 10,000 new beneficiaries every single day and somehow expect shorter wait times.”
Other Social Security Changes
The SSA also announced this month that the agency added 13 conditions to its Compassionate Allowances list, bringing the total to 300 conditions, to expedite disability determinations for specific severe medical diagnoses.
What People Are Saying
Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: “The current administration needs to pace their advances in technology to the pace that senior citizens can learn and adopt the new systems, and there needs to be enough staffers to adequately serve our most vulnerable generations.”
Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: “This latest announcement offers more clarity to the boasted improvements, citing a move to more automated calls and online features now helping the majority of beneficiaries in a quicker way. This certainly makes sense, as a large number of questions and concerns the program receives are on issues that automated responses and virtual question-and-answer could remedy. At the same point, it remains to be seen if in-person and live agent phone services are in fact as efficient as stated, as mixed reports have claimed otherwise.”
What Happens Next
While the 43 million hours saved metric is an improvement, experts say it remains to be seen whether recipients are actually getting their questions answered faster.
“Are people actually getting the right information faster, or just getting any information faster? There’s a difference, and it’s expensive,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. “When you’re dealing with a benefit that represents 40 percent of most retirees’ income, spending an extra few minutes on a phone call might save you from an 8-year mistake.”
Ryan said he urges Social Security recipients to verify all information they receive, especially online.
“The automation is impressive, but your Social Security strategy shouldn’t be automated. Speed without accuracy is just expensive efficiency,” Ryan said.
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