The IRS has improved timeliness for new hires, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has found.
It said that new hires from outside the government in 2009 were taking over five months on average but that some divisions such as the IT organization and wage and investment division are now closing in on a government-wide hiring goal of just 80 calendar days.
The agency hired about 19,000 employees in fiscal 2011. TIGTA said IRS divisions in the human capital office have taken action to reduce hiring timelines, but need to continue to focus on keeping hiring timelines low and making additional improvements.
TIGTA noted that the small business/self-employed division uses a hiring process that is based on bringing large groups of employees on board at the same time for training and orientation purposes and it can take up to 200 calendar days to hire employees – although the process is more efficient for training and orientation purposes.
The IRS agreed with recommendations to deactivate certificates that are not used, provide guidance to employment offices for selecting the correct certificates, and ensure the correct dates are used in calculating hiring timelines.