Thousands of IRS probationary workers—casualties of the Trump administration’s federal cost-cutting purge in February but later reinstated and put on paid administrative leave last month after two court rulings—have been told to come back to their jobs on April 14.
According to Reddit users, the email probationary employees received on April 2 said:
Preparation for Returning to Full Duty by April 14
You are receiving this email as one of approximately 7,000 probationary employees who were separated from service and have been reinstated in compliance with recent court orders.
At this time, while you remain on administrative leave, you will soon receive instructions for how to return to full-time duty by April 14. You can find basic information at IRS.gov Probationary Employee Resources, including information on how benefits will be restored. Future communications will provide instructions on obtaining a PIV [Personal Identity Verification] Card and IT equipment, workspace assignments and temporary telework where space is not available, in addition to updated information on reinstating benefits and outside employment.
If you wish to not return and voluntarily resign from federal service, you should send an email to Separation@IRS.gov as soon as possible. Please know that outside employment does not necessarily prevent you from returning to work. If you have secured outside employment and wish to continue with the outside employment while re-employed with the IRS, you must submit an outside employment request to your manager. They will process the request in accordance with IRM 6.735.2 (IRS Outside Employment) to determine if the outside employment is a permitted activity.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we work through this process. If you need to update the contact information we have on file for you, contact the Employee Resource Center (ERC) by calling the Operations Support Customer Assistance Line: 1-866-743-5748, Option 1, and then select the appropriate menu item.
While many on Reddit expressed relief about getting their IRS jobs back, others said they’re worried about the possibility of getting let go again after the April 15 federal tax filing deadline. Bloomberg Tax reported that 18% of the IRS’s workforce will be reduced by May 15, including some cuts that have already been made. The figures in the plan include the earlier layoffs of probationary employees and people who accepted an earlier deferred resignation offer.
Federal agencies had to submit plans for mass reductions in force (RIFs) to the Trump administration by March 13.
“My coworker said he heard the managers meeting today where some of them think they’re bringing us back just to fire us on April 15th when RIFs start. Another manager asked for my number and texted me that it’s possible we’ll be fired in 2 months (a 60 day rif I’m assuming),” a person wrote Wednesday on Reddit. “Still better news than being fired yet and remaining hopeful. Also hopeful for another DRP [deferred resignation program]. I have no faith anymore that they realize we’re needed though, it’s sad.”
Another person wrote, “Yeah, I figured RIF would be an absolute certainty, was just hoping I had enough time to feel like a normal employed person before the hammer finally hits. 🙁 ”
Shortly after a federal judge in California on March 13 ordered the employment of thousands of probationary employees in six government agencies who were fired by the Trump administration in February be reinstated, many impacted IRS workers received an email saying they got their jobs back. However, those staffers were also told they were being placed on paid administrative leave until further notice.
The email cited a March 13 U.S. District Court ruling in Maryland, a separate court decision than the one in California, that “ordered 18 federal agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to reinstate by Monday, March 17, 2025, certain probationary workers who were recently terminated.” The Trump administration has appealed both the California and Maryland court rulings.
An estimated 6,700 IRS workers—mostly newer probationary employees who have fewer protections than long-term workers—were laid off by the Trump administration on Feb. 20. In addition, between 4% and 5% of IRS workers accepted the Trump administration’s federal employee buyout offer in February, Bloomberg Tax reported. But workers considered essential to tax season were told they have to stick around through the April 15 tax filing deadline until sometime in May.
The Washington Post reported on March 18 that the Taxpayer Advocate Service, the independent taxpayer help branch within the IRS, is slated to lose 430 of about 1,900 employees in an initial phase of staff reductions. Those cuts would come in addition to more than 90 employees who took deferred resignation offers or were laid off earlier this year.
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins told the Washington Post that the IRS is working with the Treasury Department “on the scope and allocation of workforce reductions.”
In addition, the IRS last week reportedly placed around 50 IT executives on paid administrative leave. The 50 people were at the senior executive service level, sources told the website FedScoop, and most were associate chief information officers. The 50 staffers also include experts working on cybersecurity, modernization, applications, development, contracts, networks, mainframe, and data center operations, among other IT-related areas, FedScoop reported.
The number of IRS employees stood at roughly 100,000 before President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, as the tax agency refilled its ranks the last couple of years through funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
But Elon Musk, who has been heading up the Department of Government Efficiency, was tasked by President Trump to cut costs and pare down the federal workforce, including at the IRS. The administration is doing this by closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who haven’t yet gained civil service protection, and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees through the deferred resignation program.
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Tags: doge, IRS, IRS layoffs, Payroll, Trump administration
