- The IRS plans to hire 300-plus entry-level employees in Ogden, reversing previous moves to cut jobs via layoffs and firings.
- Union leader Robert Lawrence attributes the shift to missteps by the Department of Governmental Efficiency.
- Even if workers weren't fired or laid off, the Ogden-area workforce has fallen due to many taking buyouts, according to Lawrence.
OGDEN — First, federal officials wanted to cut IRS jobs in Weber County and the rest of the country as part of efforts of President Donald Trump's administration to scale back the federal workforce and cut spending.
In Weber County, the leader of the union representing some of the local IRS employees, Robert Lawrence of Chapter 67 of the National Treasury Employees Union, estimated last winter that the cuts would range from 700 to 1,000. The mass layoffs were later paused, however, by a judge considering a lawsuit against the plans, though many subsequently took federal buyouts and voluntarily stepped down.
Now, in what seems to be a turnaround, the IRS wants to add 300-plus employees to the Ogden-area workforce, and the agency will hold a hiring event on Tuesday and Wednesday to seek recruits. The events will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at the Courtyard by Marriott Ogden, 247 24th St.
"These entry-level positions do not require prior tax experience. Our top-notch training programs will teach you everything you need to know to prepare you to be successful in these positions," reads an IRS press release.
An IRS rep didn't respond to a query seeking comment, but Lawrence attributed the apparent shift from wanting to ax employees to seeking out workers to the missteps of the Department of Governmental Efficiency, known as DOGE. That's the entity formerly led by businessman Elon Musk that spearheaded efforts last winter to cut government spending, including via cuts to the IRS workforce.
"When you put people in charge of running the government, and they don't know how to run the government, that's kind of what happens," Lawrence said. The shift in action "tells me they don't know what they're doing."
Either way, he said the Ogden-area IRS workforce has fallen dramatically from 7,500 earlier this year, mainly due to workers taking buyouts offered by the government to trim the IRS ranks, not layoffs or firings.
"It's definitely below 6,000 right now, so many people took the retirement," he said. About 200 to 500 IRS workers in Ogden were initially fired last winter as DOGE pressed for job cuts, but they were later brought back on after the court challenge to the move, according to Lawrence.
At the same time, the angst about job security that seemed to tug at many IRS workers last winter when reports of DOGE-driven job cuts peaked, prompting demonstrations around the country, has eased. However, it hasn't completely gone away. Morale is "hit and miss at times. I think there are people very happy to still be working, still collecting a paycheck and having a job," Lawrence said.
The scaled-back workforce brought on by the voluntary departures, however, has meant the workers still on the job have had to take up the slack, some of them working mandatory overtime. Mandatory overtime is "causing some issues" for some workers, he said, since it may cut into family time and because some IRS employees have second jobs.
Accordingly, Lawrence says that 300-plus workers are needed, if not more. He maintains that the IRS here even needed additional employees earlier this year when the agency's ranks in Ogden numbered around 7,500.
The hiring in Ogden is for contact representatives, who typically help business taxpayers sort through issues they may be encountering. The IRS website says the posts are for appointments of a year that can be extended by up to four years in one-year increments. The hourly pay range, according to the IRS press release, goes from $19.33 to $26.51.
