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More than 2,500 Social Security Administration employees are taking buyout offers as the agency seeks to downsize its workforce in line with the Trump administration’s directive. Staff reductions at the agency have sparked concerns about that customer service will be affected.

Some 2,477 eligible workers signed up to receive up to $25,000 through a voluntary separation incentive payment, known as a VSIP, by Friday’s deadline, the agency said in a workforce update. They must leave by April 19. Nearly 200 more employees applied but were not eligible.

Another 345 staffers accepted last month’s deferred resignation program, which puts them on paid administrative leave until September 30, after which they must leave the agency. Frontline workers who provide service to the public were not eligible for this offer.

Plus, an additional 2,259 employees volunteered to be reassigned from non-mission critical positions to a field office, teleservice center, processing center, payment center or hearing office, among other locations.

Social Security is also offering an early retirement incentive to all eligible employees, who must notify their supervisors by November 1 and leave by year’s end.

The bigger picture: The agency has said it wants to cut its staff by 7,000 positions, or 12%, to a workforce of roughly 50,000. If enough people depart voluntarily, it may not have to conduct layoffs, it said. It submitted a draft reduction-in-force, or RIF, plan to the Office of Personnel Management last week.

But the exodus of longtime employees has prompted fears among advocates and former officials that customer service will deteriorate and technology glitches will not be fixed, which could eventually lead to an interruption in benefit payments.