In order to have experienced employees in critical areas during the
peak workload years, after the 1998 study SSA revised the eligibility
requirements of its voluntary retirement program to focus on
mitigating the effects of projected peak year retirements. In contrast
with earlier versions of the program, which were targeted to employees
in noncritical administrative and managerial positions, the redesigned
early retirement program was expanded to include all employees who
provide direct service to the public. However, SSA has generally
excluded employees with substantial workloads and skills critical to
achieving its mission, such as administrative law judges, from
participating in the early retirement program.