Published: August 27, 2024 | Last Updated: November 25, 2025

Improve IRS Employee Hiring, Recruitment, Retention, and Training Processes

Background

The IRS still has much work to do to improve its hiring, recruitment, and training processes. Failures in hiring, recruitment, and training lead to poor customer service quality, undermine voluntary compliance, and burden tax administration. IRS employee attrition remains a concern for the National Taxpayer Advocate. As noted in the 2023 Annual Report to Congress, about 18 percent of IRS employees are currently retirement-eligible and can leave at any time, with 37 percent of IRS employees estimated to become retirement-eligible in the next five years. This will lead to a void in the management and leadership ranks at the IRS, and the National Taxpayer Advocate urges the IRS to move quickly and efficiently to mitigate the impact of employee attrition.

Highlights

Status

Expected Completion Date

09/30/2025

Activities

Activity 1: Review and analyze the IRS Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 hiring and recruitment strategies and propose suggestions on improving recruitment efforts and speeding up the pace of hiring.

Activity 2: Collaborate with hiring and training subject matter experts within each of the IRS’s Business Operating Divisions in FY 2025 to gain direct insight from Human Capital Office (HCO) customers to identify current hurdles and inefficiencies in IRS hiring, recruitment, and training processes.

Activity 3: Work with IRS HCO to develop potential employee retention strategies and recommendations in FY 2025 to reduce the overall turnover rates of employees.

Activity Updates

Activity 1: All recruitment activities paused by the hiring freeze effective January 20, 2025. TAS is awaiting further guidance from Treasury and the IRS Human Capital Office.

Activity 2: No action taken. All recruitment and hiring activity have been stopped due to the Executive Order hiring freeze.

Activity 3: Servicewide Compensation Team to identify retention strategies and other retention programs suspended due to the hiring freeze and potential reduction in force.

1st Quarter Actions Completed

During this fiscal year, recruitment efforts will primarily target internal applicants until external hiring restrictions are lifted. No action was taken in the first quarter regarding collaboration with hiring and training subject matter experts; these efforts will commence in the second quarter. The Finance and Human Capital Director is actively participating in the Servicewide Compensation Team to develop retention strategies for managers. Future initiatives will shift focus toward retention strategies for non-managerial employees.

2nd Quarter Actions Completed

All recruitment activities paused by the hiring freeze effective January 20, 2025. TAS is awaiting further guidance from Treasury and the IRS Human Capital Office.

3rd Quarter Actions Completed

Continuing to monitor.

Next Steps

All recruitment activities have been paused by the hiring freeze effective January 20, 2025. TAS is awaiting further guidance from Treasury and the IRS Human Capital Office.

Actions surrounding activity two are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025.

TAS is continuing to search regulations to identify effective retention strategies.

Return to FY25 Objective Statuses