Alongside the concerns for consumers regarding Social Security as baby boomers face retirement in droves, there’s also a new worry about the Social Security Administration itself—from management to human capital and physical infrastructure.
The Administration “will experience management challenges in four key areas over the next decade,” according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
GAO conducted the study based on the importance of the Social Security Administration to nearly all Americans; in 2012 the administration paid more than 62 million people more than $826 billion in benefits. But with increased workloads and potential employee retirements, the administration faces its own uphill battle, GAO finds.
Among the challenges: human capital, disability program issues, information technology and physical infrastructure, the report finds. While the administration has made headway in some of these areas, such as IT systems and centralized facilities management, it still will have to cope with ongoing headwinds in these areas as well as the others noted.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
