IRS singin’ ‘Baby Come Back!’ – Blame it on Treas-ur-y: (With Apologies and Vacated Buyouts)

In what might be the most awkward yet relatable moment for any employer who's suddenly realized they may have accepted your resignation too quickly; the IRS is now telling people who accepted their Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) deal: "Baby Come Back."

A Dramatic 25% Staff Shrinkage... Oops

Earlier this year, the IRS shed nearly 25% of its staff—about 25,700 employees—through a mix of voluntary early retirements, deferred resignation offers, and a few rounds of layoffs. The goal was leaner and meaner, but instead, they ended up lean and kind of underperforming.

Enter: The “Rescind Your DRP” Email

Fast-forward to today: the IRS is sending out feelers to folks who bought into the DRP. If you're one of the lucky—or unlucky—few (around 300–400 employees) currently on paid administrative leave and slated to resign by September 30, 2025, the agency wants to reverse that move. Yep, rescission is now a thing again. The Daily Beast

In plain English:

“We know we told you to go, and we showed you the door... but (your critical skills notwithstanding) we're now begging you to come back.”

When you saw it coming

Why the Backpedal?

Turns out, that 25% reduction created some gaping holes in mission‑critical roles—yes, some of those departures were a bit too enthusiastic. So now, the IRS is cobbling together a patchwork fix: reassignment, re-hiring, and—drumroll—revoking some of those deferred resignations. The Daily Beast Washington Post

To make matters even more deliciously awkward, DRP rescissions are agency‑initiated only. You can’t wave your hand and say, “I’ve had a change of heart.” The IRS must invite you back first. Federal News Network

A Tangled Timeline

Let’s break down the key dates and programs:

DRP 1.0 (initial DRP):

Offered early this year; thousands accepted, many went on paid leave through Sept 30, 2025.Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

DRP 2.0 / TDRP:

Offered April 7–14, 2025, similar terms—paid leave through Sept 30, 2025.CPA Practice Advisor

Deferred resignations rescheduled: Now, some of these are being pulled back to fill in the gaping talent holes. The Washington Post

The IRS Isn’t Alone in This Awkward Retreat

It’s not just the tax collectors. Other agencies—like the Agriculture Department after the bird flu crisis and the National Nuclear Security Administration—also found themselves re-inviting employees they’d just pushed out. Desperate times call for rescinding resignations. The Washington Post

Bottom Line: A Need for Experts is a Great Comeback Pitch

Lesson learned: Cutting specialized staff? Risky business.

Bonus insight: If someone offers you a cushy exit, maybe ask what happens if they suddenly regret it. You know—just to be safe.

Want the Cliff Notes (or TL; DR)?

The IRS practically sent invitations to departed employees saying, “Hey, remember us? We actually need you back.” Skilled workers are now that valuable—especially after a self-inflicted staffing hangover. Remember those FAQs tho! "We want you to do something more productive than government work. . . Ded.

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Policy Implications: What This Signals About IRS Strategy

The IRS’s whiplash over staffing isn’t happening in isolation. It’s the natural byproduct of top-down dysfunction:

Treasury’s Heavy Hand

At the core of this mess is an ineffective, overly political Treasury Department, forcing poorly designed workforce “efficiency” schemes down the throats of IRS leadership. Instead of pushing for sustainable staffing models and smart investments in technology, Treasury demanded quick optics: big buyouts, headcount cuts, and budgetary sleight of hand. Weak leadership at the IRS caved, executing illegal orders and policies they knew would hollow out critical skillsets and destabilize the workplace. And now—surprise—the same Treasury is watching the agency unravel. Baby Come back!

Botched Hiring Pushes

The IRS’s attempt to replace experienced talent with new call-center staff has been laughably ineffective. Hiring fairs (even ongoing currently) drew almost no one. And of the handful that showed

When you out number the participants

up, many lacked the technical ability to actually resolve taxpayer issues. The idea that you can cut veteran expertise and swap in rookies with a headset shows just how detached from reality the plan was.

Timing Is Everything (and This Timing Is Awful)

Asking DRP participants to rescind resignations in August—just weeks before the Sept. 30 separation date—is the clearest sign yet that leadership was making this up as they went along. It’s like announcing a five-year strategic plan while duct-taping the roof during a storm.

The Hidden Costs of “Baby Come Back”

Even if the IRS convinces some employees to rescind their resignations, the price tag is staggering. What looked like a budget win when Treasury pushed the Deferred Resignation Program is about to balloon into another taxpayer-funded boondoggle:

Rebadging and Onboarding

Employees who rescind DRPs aren’t just slotted back into their old chairs. Federal HR requires a full rebadging process, new employee records, and reclassification paperwork. Each keystroke costs money, and multiplied by hundreds of employees, it’s bureaucracy on steroids.

Background Checks (Yes, Again)

Even though these employees were already cleared, the law requires re-vetting as if they’re new hires. That means fresh background investigations, fingerprints, and security processing. Translation: taxpayers pay twice for the same checks.

New Equipment, New Costs

Many DRP participants turned in laptops, phones, and other equipment when they departed. Now the IRS has to reissue gear—brand-new laptops, phones, tokens, and in some cases, physical office space upgrades. For an agency already complaining about IT modernization costs, this is like buying the same fleet of cars twice in one fiscal year.

Mandatory Retraining

By law, returning employees must be retrained to ensure they’re up to date on policies, systems, and compliance standards. Even if they’ve only been gone six months, they’re treated as if they just walked in off the street. That means hours of training modules, supervisors pulled off core work, and a further delay before these staff are “productive” again.

Opportunity Cost

While leadership scrambles to patch the workforce gap with rescinded resignations, taxpayers remain stuck in call queues and audit backlogs. The very problems these programs were supposed to fix are now compounded by the churn.

Mixed Messaging in the Emails

The coup de grâce? The emails basically say: “It’s okay if you choose not to, it won’t be held against you.” Translation: “We’re desperate, but not desperate-desperate. You’re free to ignore this trainwreck.” It’s a new low in federal HR communications, though points for honesty.

The Coming Workplace Telenovela: Returnees vs. Survivors

Even if the IRS manages to patch its staffing hole by dragging some folks back, there’s another storm brewing: workplace dynamics.

The Survivors’ Resentment

Picture this: employees who stuck it out through the chaos—understaffed shifts, angry taxpayers on hold for hours, the constant drip of “do more with less”—are now watching their colleagues stroll back in after months of paid administrative leave. They’ve carried the water while others got to lounge in the DRP waiting room. The resentment will be thick enough to file a 1040 on.

The Returnees’ Awkwardness

For those coming back, the vibe is equally uncomfortable. They’re re-badged, re-trained, and re-equipped like brand-new hires, even though everyone knows they’re veterans. Some will quietly enjoy the back pay, leave accruals, and perks—but they’ll also sense the side-eye from the colleagues who had to mop up the mess in their absence.

Leadership in the Middle (or Not at All)

Normally, strong leadership could smooth this over with clear messaging, equitable workload distribution, and some actual vision for why this round of musical chairs was worth it. But with weak IRS leadership executing Treasury’s bad policy, don’t expect a firm hand. Expect “townhalls” with canned talking points and no open questions, “teamwork” slogans, and no real accountability. In other words, everyone will be left to stew. (Oh by the way - no Federal Viewpoint Survey in 2025 - guess they wanted to save the massive reduction in "Best Places to Work")

Morale Fallout

The dynamic becomes:

Survivors: “We worked through hell and got nothing.”

Returnees: “We left, came back, and got new laptops plus leave.”

Leadership: “Team, let’s move forward!” (while hiding in conference rooms).

The predictable result? Lower morale, simmering hostility, and even higher attrition—because when you treat your people like pawns in a budget chess match, they eventually leave the board.

Snarky Conclusion: Workplace Regrets, IRS-Style

This fiasco is a case study in how bad policy from above, coupled with weak execution below, creates chaos on the ground. Treasury demanded sweeping reductions without a roadmap, the IRS leadership folded, and now the agency is writing awkward love letters to employees it paid to leave.

It’s the bureaucratic equivalent of dumping someone because your friends told you to, realizing you made a huge mistake, and then showing up at their door with flowers muttering, “I didn’t mean it, babe—it was my boss’s idea.”

And the taxpayers? They’re left waiting on hold. Again.

The sad truth: until Treasury prioritizes long-term workforce stability over short-term optics, the IRS will keep lurching from one self-inflicted crisis to another. But hey—at least the Service is consistent: as bad at people strategy as it is at customer service.