The US’ Internal Revenue Service is the latest in the line to make sweeping cuts to its workforce. According to Reuters, the agency’s leadership said in an email to staff on Friday that among the first to go will be employees of its civil rights office.
It was earlier reported that more than 20,000 staff would be cut. A source familiar with Friday’s announcement confirmed that 20-25 percent of the tax-collecting agency’s workforce would be targeted.
“The IRS has begun implementing a Reduction in Force (RIF) that will result in staffing cuts across multiple offices and job categories,” Reuters reported while citing an internal human resources email sent to all staff on Friday.
The email said 75 percent of the agency’s civil rights office, previously called the office of diversity, equity and inclusion, will be cut and its remaining employees will move under a separate office.
Accoridng to another report, the civil rights office will be effectively shuttered by the move, with the remaining staffers moved into the Office of Chief Counsel, the email stated.
It also noted that employees will be offered early retirement incentives starting next week.
The email said the mass layoffs would take place in phases. They come amid the busiest time of the year for the IRS, with the filing deadline for most individual tax returns falling on April 15.
The Washington Post had first reported the start of the layoffs and the elimination of the civil rights office. The cuts are part of a major overhaul of the federal workforce that has already cost more than 200,000 workers their jobs.
US President Donald Trump has tasked billionaire Elon Musk with leading the reshaping and downsizing of the government.
Trump has passed executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives that he has labeled discriminatory. Civil rights groups have condemned the actions, saying DEI measures help in addressing historical and generational inequity.
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