The IRS building in Washington.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service seems to be outdated by the latest research results. One of the strongest government agencies is facing the problem of having people that will run their business. Over half of IRS’s employees are over 50 years old and more than 40 percent of them will be eligible to retire four years from now. The share of people under 30 is dropping and there is just 650 employees under 25 from 37000 people currently working for the IRS.

John Koskinen, Commissioner of IRS, said that IRS is facing its own version of “Baby Bust”. What is still uncertain is how the agency will attract young people to come and work for them.

One of the interns of AFTR, Alexander Handrie, wrote a statement suggesting in which circumstances would a young person want to work for the IRS and why. “While millennials are often derided for being anti-social and glued to their technology, this aversion to real life communications makes them an ideal fit with the IRS,” he also added, “Already, the agency does not answer phone calls at local offices and does not allow elderly or disabled taxpayers to leave phone messages. Taxpayers have also found it difficult and time consuming to get through to a human being this filing season.”

Handrie continued mocking IRS’s action and said that young people would work in this kind of environment just out of irony and to have something to talk about and laugh with his/hers friends.

No matter what the IRS is still trying to market itself and get to the fresh blood for its organizations. Their belief is that young people want to work for an organization that benefits the whole of society and enables growth of the nation. Also, they believe that millennials want to have good and safe jobs and they consider the IRS is exactly that.

Working 9 to 5 could sound tempting for some, plus, there is a lot of possibilities for bonuses and advancement over time. But, it seems there is still a lot that the IRS is going to have to do to motivate the youth of the nation to come and join their organization.

To make things even harder, big budget cuts have made the agency cut staff through attrition and slowed things down considering demographic versatility.

The only chance they could hope for at the moment is 2019 will bring a fresh breed of agents with the retirement of 40 percent of employees, giving a lot of space for new workers and their advancement.