Posts tagged Veterans Benefits Administration

GAO: Effectively ending telework increased attrition at Social Security

January 27, 2026 // A combination of former Commissioner Martin O’Malley’s mandate that headquarters and regional office staff telework at most once or twice a week, respectively, and the agency’s ability to recall employees from telework to address workload needs led to a reduction in the percentage of agency work hours spent working remotely from 50% to 55% in the first half of 2024 to 39% to 42% in the second half of the calendar year. Once Trump’s telework crackdown took effect at SSA in March 2025, that figure fell to just 13% by last April. But officials told the watchdog agency that telework was a key recruitment and retention tool, and employees said in the 2024 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey that its relative paucity there compared to other federal agencies and private sector employers motivated a desire to leave.