Social Security phone helpline wait times at record low

Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano told Congress on Wednesday that the agency has improved one legacy pain point for individuals who contact it — long phone wait times for the toll-free helpline.

SSA has brought the average “speed of answer,” or the time it takes for an agent to answer an incoming call, to the “lowest level in a decade,” Bisignano said in written testimony to the House Ways and Means Social Security and Work & Welfare subcommittee hearing.

In May, the average speed of answer was under five minutes, according to Bisignano’s testimony, an 89% reduction from an all-time high of 42 minutes in fiscal year 2024.

“We now answer 90% of calls to our 800 number, and have reduced average wait time to five minutes, a 75% improvement,” Bisignano said on Wednesday.

The Social Security Administration will have more than 800 million customer interactions this year, as a result of its record-breaking performance, according to Bisignano.

The agency currently serves more than 300 million Americans, Bisignano said. It currently issues Social Security benefits to around 71 million individuals and provides other services, such as issuing Social Security cards.

President Donald Trump chose Bisignano, who was previously president and CEO of global payments provider Fiserv, to bring a business approach to leading SSA. His appointment followed changes by the Trump administration through the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to curb “waste, fraud and abuse” in the federal government.

Prior to Bisignano’s leadership, SSA said in February 2025 that it planned to reduce its staffing by 7,000 to a total of 50,000 employees. The agency ultimately lost more than 8,000 workers between January 2025 and April 2026, according to a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, that cited data from the Office of Personnel Management.

Those staff losses generated concerns among some lawmakers and advocates that the agency’s services at both its field offices and its 800 number may be compromised.

In December, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General issued a report on the agency’s 800 number in response to an audit request from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who had expressed concerns about its performance.

The SSA OIG report stated the agency’s reported 800 number metrics were “accurate,” and that its overall phone service performance improved in fiscal year 2025. The agency served 68 million callers, either directly by a worker or through automation, representing a 65% increase from the previous fiscal year, according to the report. SSA improved those metrics through a new telecommunications platform and staff realignments, the report stated.

Some lawmakers pressed Bisignano during the hearing on wait times.

Constituents have experienced long wait times, and the quality of service they receive has varied depending on when they call, due to the agency’s staff shuffling, said Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wisc.

Responding to Moore, Bisignano said the Social Security Administration has increased staff available to handle calls at certain hours and is focused on “having the right amount of staff in the right places.”

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., asked whether the data improvements include callers who select the option to receive a callback and, therefore, may be counted as zero-minute wait times. OIG data shows average wait times of nearly two hours for those who elect the callback option, she said.

“The answer is yes, and that is an industry standard,” Bisignano said of counting callback requests as zero-minute waits. He disputed the OIG report results and said the average wait time for a callback is under 30 minutes.

The agency has not stopped sharing data on its service performance, he said: “We have more metrics than ever before on the web.”