The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report that the Social Security Administration (SSA) needs to update its human capital plan to make sure the agency can find and retain “mission-critical staff” following recent changes to SSA’s telework policies.
Those policy changes came via a January 2025 White House memo that ordered agency telework reductions.
SSA, GAO said in its Jan. 23 report, needs to “update its human capital plan to ensure the agency can identify and retain mission-critical staff, given recent changes in SSA’s telework posture and efforts to reshape the organization.”
GAO also urged the agency to “evaluate its telework program to identify problems or issues with the program and make appropriate adjustments and assess the effects of telework on agency performance.”
According to GAO, SSA neither agreed nor disagreed with those recommendations.
GAO’s assessment follows its review of the degree to which decreased levels of telework at several government agencies, since the coronavirus pandemic, have impacted the services the agencies provide to the public.
“Some of the Social Security Administration’s program offices continue to regularly use telework,” GAO said.
“We also found that some staff considered leaving SSA to pursue jobs with greater telework opportunities,” the watchdog agency said, leading to its recommendation that SSA review the impact of its telework program to identify and retain mission-critical staff.
The GAO report also looks at similar impacts on telework policy changes at the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, but it offers no recommendations specific to those agencies.
“Officials at all three agencies told us telework likely had some effect on operations,” GAO said.
“For instance, SSA and CA had staff who had left or considered leaving for other organizations with more telework availability,” GAO reported. “They told us that other factors, such as a lack of qualified applicants and increased workloads, led to recruiting challenges.”
“Officials at SSA told us telework was an important recruitment tool,” GAO said, adding that “SSA is at risk of skills gaps in key occupations, in part because its employees are seeking greater telework flexibility elsewhere.”