According to these sources, IRS employees slated for termination were “deemed as not critical” to the ongoing tax filing season. Managers have been told be be “hands-on-deck” in the office Thursday and Friday to help with the offboarding process.

According to the latest data from the Office of Personnel Management, the IRS had more than 15,000 employees with less than a year on the job, as of May 2024. In some cases, however, IRS employees may have probationary periods that exceed one year.

Doreen Greenwald, national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, called the layoffs “arbitrary and unlawful,” and said NTEU “will keep fighting until every wrongful termination is reversed.”