Managing a Social Security staff barbecue during a tense closing meeting

Like the United States As the government shutdown continues into its second month, agency leaders at the Social Security Administration (SSA) are becoming increasingly concerned about how the key government department, which provides benefits to about 70 million Americans, will continue to operate.

WIRED obtained meeting notes from a Thursday SSA call to the department’s field offices, where more than a thousand managers from across the country spoke with Chief of Field Operations Andy Sreopas about the severe and devastating effects of the government shutdown. During the call, managers spoke frankly about employees who can no longer afford to drive to work and the crisis of confidence in the agency.

“People come to me saying they can’t put gas in their cars, that they can’t afford to come to work anymore, and they’re going to need to get other jobs,” one employee said by phone. “Very soon they won’t be able to afford to work at the agency.”

“My heart is breaking because I’m hearing all these things all over the country,” Sriopas replied. “We had to close an office in California today because we didn’t have enough people to open the doors… No one wants to close an office… But I also understand that people have to live their lives and have limited means to do so when you’ve now lost your second full paycheck.”

Another employee told WIRED that some field offices have set up food pantries to help colleagues on the brink. They added: “People are angry and… betrayed.”

“I think I can speak for most of our employees when we say now more than ever, employees feel somewhat betrayed by the federal government as federal employees because of what we deal with and how long we move around,” another employee said on the call.

Most SSA employees are considered “exempt” from the shutdown, meaning they must continue working without getting paid — or leave the agency altogether.

People can also be furloughed, but employees say they are nervous about asking for that option, fearing they won’t get paid when the government reopens. “I have employees who are kind of skeptical and fearful, to be honest, using furlough because they’re not comfortable or confident that once the lockdown is over, they’ll be compensated,” one employee said on the call.

Differing standards at the agency, which has nearly 51,000 employees, also lead to discord. While the Social Security Administration (SSA) is allowing some employees to work remotely during this period, the number of days they are allowed to do so is limited. “Telework will be infrequent, based on the agency’s unique workload needs or due to the requesting employee’s personal circumstances, and limited in duration,” according to the employee contract viewed by WIRED. (“It’s become a big problem — and employees are talking over each other. We need a hard and fast rule,” one manager told WIRED.)