The IRS started this year’s tax season on January 24th with a massive backlog of tax filings 7.2 million to be exact. This has caused the National Taxpayer Advocate to describe the IRS as “in crisis.”
The IRS just this week announced it would hire 5,000 new employees with no tax experience necessary. The IRS will behold job fairs on March 16, 23, and, the 30th. The job fairs and job openings will be held at their process locations in Austin, Texas, Kansas City, Missouri, and Ogden, Utah. According to the IRS, job applicants will be offered jobs on the spot.
“Available positions include temporary, term, and permanent jobs. Many are entry-level clerk and tax examiner positions in the Wage and Investment Division,” the agency said. “No prior tax experience is required.”
The IRS is attempting to make a major hiring push at a time when the labor market is historically tight, with not enough workers to fill the nation’s current pool of 11.3 million open positions. Workers are also engaged in the so-called “Great Resignation,” with many quitting their jobs in search of better pay and opportunities.
The IRS might struggle to lure workers based on pay alone: Federal workers are guaranteed a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. Annual pay rates being dangled by the IRS range from about $23,000 to up to about $47,000.
The IRS is also anticipating hiring another 5,000 employees for the year 2023. The IRS currently has about 82,000 employees working for them with another 10,000 employees added that would give them a workforce of 92,000 employees.
By adding another 10,000 employees the IRS hopes this would allow them to get more customer service representatives to help people that call the IRS with tax-filing questions.
