2 days Ago
PORTLAND, Ore. — After almost 31 years of service at the Social Security Administration (SSA), Laura Novakoski is leaving her job due to mounting stress — and the stark choice that was presented to her and thousands of other workers at the agency. "We were offered one of the layoff packages that the Musk-led DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) team has been publicizing for a lot of federal agencies," she said.
In February, the agency announced that it would reduce its workforce from approximately 57,000 employees to 50,000, a move prompted by White House executive orders. While Novakoski was not forced to leave, the worsening conditions convinced her it was time to go. Novakoski, who began her career in April 1994, said the recent restructuring of the SSA and staff cuts have made her decision clear.
"I feel like I've gotten the last lifeboat off of a sinking ship," she said. Novakoski said the job was complex and interesting, but the daily feeling of having helped people kept her motivated to stick with the job for decades. But now, conditions at the agency are rapidly changing.
Looking to the next few years, she said she foresees fewer and fewer staff, prompting increasing public anger. "Almost every person that I talk to, when they finally do reach a real person, they can't even believe that the phone's been answered," she said. Novakoski is a bilingual Claims Technical Expert, or CTE, who specializes in Supplemental Security Income.
She said other changes the SSA is making , like requiring Americans applying for Retirement, Survivors or Auxiliary benefits to come into an SSA office if they cannot use their personal My SSA account, will make things even more difficult. "That's going to force many, many, many more people, by the thousands, to come into the office," she said. The agency already doesn't have enough employees, she said, and more staff hours will be wasted if current employees have to start spending whole shifts in the lobby just looking up the identification of each person who comes in requesting help.
"I can do that, but I'm one of the most highly paid people in that office, I should be back at my desk adjudicating claims and getting people's disability claims moving and getting people paid, which is the more complicated work that I am experienced and I know how to do," she said. Novakoski said her own health situation also factored into the decision to leave. She was diagnosed with shingles, which she attributed to the stress from the job.
"What it talked about in terms of preventing this and preventing a recurrence and getting better and all that was you need to reduce stress in your life, and I just started crying," she said. Although the Trump administration has stated that President Trump will not be cutting Social Security , Novakoski said she's concerned about statements from DOGE leader Elon Musk, who recently previously called Social Security "the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time" and made remarks about entitlement fraud, stating it attracts undocumented immigrants. "I don't think he understands what he's talking about," Novakoski said.
"I think that he's treating Social Security and all the federal agencies as kind of his latest toy...
I don't think it's real to a lot of the rich, mostly older people in Congress, who don't rely on this to pay their rent or put food in their mouths." She also flatly rejected Musk’s suggestion that undocumented people are receiving Social Security benefits. "There is no source that you can point to that says that undocumented people are getting Social Security benefits.
It's literally not possible. We have such a strong system of checks and balances," she said. Her last day is April 7th, but she has still been coming into work to help her team tie up loose ends ahead of her leaving.
As for her future, Novakoski said she's looking to move on to a new job. "I'm going to be looking for other work that doesn't make me feel so sad and be down every day," she said..
