Last week, IRS officials gave Congress a narrowed estimate of how many workers it expects to have to lay off as part of its pending reorganization.
The agency identified 2,772 positions that it must cut as it reduces its number of districts from 63 to 33. In the latest round of IRS buyouts, 1,310 people in those positions decided to accept the offers, leaving 1,462 possible layoffs, officials told the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees IRS operations.
However, in restructuring, the IRS will be opening 1,480 positions in the consolidated district offices. Those positions will be offered to employees who face a layoff, IRS spokeswoman Jodi Patterson said.
Any RIFs that do occur will wait until the agency and the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) complete a bargaining agreement, which could take until sometime this summer, Patterson said.
NTEU President Robert Tobias said he doesn't expect many IRS employees will want to relocate because many of the jobs will be moving from smaller towns to larger cities with higher costs of living.
Patterson conceded that "not everyone is going to want to move."
Furthermore, Tobias argued the RIFs are unnecessary because most of the employees targeted for layoff work on computers. When the districts are consolidated, employees could work from home with by connecting to district headquarters via modem, Tobias said.
The IRS and the union begin bargaining March 17. If they do not reach an agreement by March 21, the Federal Service Impasses Panel will impose one on them.
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