IRS faces mass exodus of workers
Politico, Sophia Cai and Benjamin Guggenheim, 4/15/25
The IRS could see a mass exodus of up to 40 percent of its workforce through a combination of buyouts offered by the Trump administration and widespread layoffs, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO.
The memo outlines the agency’s plans to reduce its workforce to between 60,000 to 70,000 employees, down from a previous headcount of roughly 100,000. Notices of “reductions in force” will start going out this week, the memo says, specifying that “taxpayer services and compliance will need to be trimmed.”
Already, around 22,000 employees at the IRS have opted to take the administration’s latest “deferred resignation” buyout offer, according to a person familiar with the plans granted anonymity to share them.
Combined, the figures mean the IRS could lose significant portion of its workforce just as the 2025 tax filing season draws to a close Tuesday night.
The new figures are on top of 7,000 probationary workers the IRS terminated earlier this year and up to 5,000 employees who accepted the administration’s first deferred resignation offer.
Some tax experts fear that the sudden budget cuts could result in the Treasury losing out in hundreds of billions in tax receipts, potentially accelerating the timeline under which Congress must reckon with the debt limit.
The total number of anticipated resignations is not final, though. That’s because employees who opted into the deferred resignation program could change their mind and decide to stay within a grace period.
Once an employee receives a deferred resignation agreement, they have a set amount of time to sign it. If the employee is over 40, they have 45 days to review and sign — and seven days to change their mind afterward.
Federal employees must receive a 60-day notice of reduction in force if their position is being terminated, under Office of Management and Budget regulations. Only one IRS office had received a RIF notice as of Monday afternoon, the person familiar with the plans said, but employees are expecting many more.