The Social Security Administration has recently announced that it is shortening its hours. SSA offices will now be closing 30 minutes earlier than they used to. The staff will still be working their same hours, they’re just closing it to people that want in person appointments to ask questions, file claims for benefits or to file appeals. So why are they doing this if the staff is working the same hours? Money. The idea is to save money on overtime. With the reductions to their budget, SSA is looking for any cost savings measures that they can find. By closing 30 minutes earlier, employees can catch up on paperwork and, theoretically, will not need to work overtime.
So what does this mean to you? Well I think that it is safe to say that it will be harder for you to be seen by someone from Social Security personally. If the same number of people go down to the office to be seen, they will have to go earlier and that will lead to crowding and longer wait times. Hopefully if more people are using the online services to handle issues, there will not be a large increase in wait times to be seen in person. Only time will tell.