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Washington, D.C.— The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which already lacks enough employees to adequately serve taxpayers, faces a longer-term challenge—how to maintain a skilled workforce in the midst of a long-term hiring freeze, the leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) said today.

Citing recent IRS statistics, NTEU National President Colleen M. Kelley said the number of full-time and seasonal employees at the IRS has declined by nearly 17 percent—18,138 employees—since 2011. This worker shortage accounts for the severe decline in taxpayer services like telephone and in-person assistance. Congress has cut the IRS budget by a total of $1.2 billion in the past five years.

“The hiring freeze the IRS implemented to cope with reckless budget cuts imposed by Congress for five years in a row is hurting all taxpayers. It is also making it virtually impossible for the IRS to hire new workers to replace experienced and retiring employees,” President Kelley said.

As IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said during a speech at the National Press Club, the IRS is poised to lose a significant number of experienced employees to attrition and retirement and needs to attract talented individuals to replace them. More than 40 percent of current IRS employees will be eligible to retire by 2019.

“NTEU shares Commissioner Koskinen’s concern about the agency’s ability to recruit and retain new and diverse workers. The hiring freeze is discouraging to applicants with the skills and education the agency needs. The answer to ending the staffing crisis now and in the future is adequate funding. Congress must give the IRS the resources it needs to fulfill its mission—and the biggest resource of all is employees,” the NTEU leader said. “As employees with decades of specialized experience depart, there is no one being trained to replace them. This results in a huge knowledge gap.”

The number of IRS employees assigned to answer taxpayer telephone calls fell from 9,400 in fiscal year (FY) 2010 to 6,900 in FY 2014—a 26 percent decline. The number of Revenue Officers and Revenue Agents was down more than 3,600 at the end of FY 2013 compared to 2010 levels, and the IRS says it will lose 1,800 enforcement personnel through attrition by this fiscal year.

Such personnel cuts are hampering an agency that collects the bulk of the nation’s tax revenue. In FY 2014, the IRS collected $3.1 trillion, or about 93 percent of the federal government’s receipts.

NTEU supports the administration’s $12.9 billion FY 2016 request for the IRS, an increase of more than $1.9 billion from the current level.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.