Impact of Workforce Cuts

A prolonged hiring freeze and subsequent workforce reductions have created deep operational challenges for the IRS. Former IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig explained that a hiring freeze from 2011 to 2018, where the agency could only hire one person for every four who left, was devastating. The agency’s workforce has shrunk by about 25% from its peak of 102,000 employees to approximately 77,000 today, creating what Rettig described as lost generation of agents and a void of mid-career experience.

The personnel shortages are most severe in key operational divisions, according to panel moderator Larry Campagna, chairman emeritus at Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry. The Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) division has seen its workforce shrink by 35%, while Appeals is down 28%. Carolyn Schenck, a former national fraud counsel at the IRS, explained that these cuts have tangible consequences, manifesting in delayed case handling and a critical erosion of expertise.

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