Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Several hundred Ogden IRS employees took part in a job-fair type event given the potential for job cuts under President Trump.
- Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski said the city, which organized the event, can serve as "a connector and a bridge builder" between those seeking jobs and employers.
- Those at the event reported a sense of uncertainty among IRS workers.
OGDEN — An air of uncertainty lingers at work, says Jenny, an IRS employee in Ogden.
"It's kind of day to day," she said, asking that she be identified only by her first name given the tenuous situation at the federal agency. "We wonder what's going to happen tomorrow. ... It's all up in the air."
Clint, another IRS employee who provided just his first name, feels a sense of anxiety, not just because of the potential for extensive job cuts but because solid information is hard to come by. "Not a lot of clear communication on when to expect things to happen," he said.
IRS is Ogden's top employer, and with the administration of President Donald Trump talking about massive job cuts in the agency, the city of Ogden hosted what it dubbed a Federal Employee Career Transition and Resource Connection Event on Wednesday. More than 400 people signed up to attend, crowding into a gym on the campus of Ogden-Weber Technical College, where booths manned by Weber State University, businesses, the Utah Department of Workforce Services and others offered participants information.
One in five workers in Ogden works directly or indirectly for the federal government, estimates David Sawyer, deputy executive director of community and economic development for the city. Many of those, if not most, work for the IRS, which employs around 7,500 in the city. Thus, city leaders wanted to do something to try to ready IRS workers in the event they are let go.
"We hear the need. We hear the concern from our federal workforce," said Mayor Ben Nadolski, who addressed the gathering. Federal workers "are our friends, our neighbors. They live in our neighborhoods."
So far the IRS hasn't yet made any massive cuts in light of lawsuits filed by the workers' representatives calling on the government to follow contractual procedures. A labor leader said in February that he feared up to 1,000 jobs would be cut in Ogden alone. But the agency has put out two calls for workers willing to take buyout offers and voluntarily step down. And in the event job cuts come, the city can serve as "a connector and a bridge builder" between those who need jobs and those who need workers, Nadolski said.
While the Trump administration's talk of job cuts has prompted protesting by federal workers and their advocates in Ogden and beyond, many have been leery of speaking publicly, worried about putting their jobs in jeopardy. The administration has also slashed the workforce at other agencies, not just the IRS. Several spoke at Wednesday's event, however, but asked that only their first names be used, still concerned about the repercussions of addressing the delicate subject.
Jenny said she's worked for the IRS for some 20 years. She called herself "one of the lucky ones" because her husband has a good job and said starting a business or going back to school might be options if worse comes to worse.
Clint has worked for the IRS for more than 15 years and holds out hope he'll be able to hold onto his job. "I'm not too worried about my post just yet," he said.
There he was with several hundred others, however. If forced to, he said he'd scramble to find another job then work his way up the ladder.
Melody has only worked for the IRS for four months and said she took the Treasury Department up on its buyout offer, more formally known as the deferred resignation program. "It was kind of an easy decision because there was no reason we would be able to stay. We're at the bottom of the totem pole," she said, alluding to her short tenure as an IRS employee.
Still, the turn of events was disappointing, Melody said. She's still working, with her final date to be determined, and is in the process of considering job options post-IRS. "This was supposed to be my steady hours, steady income job. It has been nothing of the sort," she said.
Jessica, who also opted to take part in the deferred resignation program, said she had long sought a job in the federal government, which employs her sister and mother. She was excited at the new opportunity, but that quickly faded with the push by the Trump administration to cut jobs, meant to save money and reduce government bloat. She's been looking for jobs as her final workday approaches, so far to no avail.
"I've been looking since they told us we may not have a job after May," she said.
