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The IRS is drafting plans to cut its workforce by as much as half through a mix of layoffs, attrition, and incentivized buyouts, according to two people familiar with the situation.The people spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the plans.The layoffs are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency by closing agencies, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees through a “deferred resignation program” to quickly reduce the government workforce.A reduction in force of tens of thousands of employees would render the IRS “dysfunctional,” said John Koskinen, a former IRS commissioner.The federal tax collector employs roughly 90,000 workers total across the United States, according to the latest IRS data. People of color make up 56% of the IRS workforce, and women represent 65%.Already, roughly 7,000 probationary IRS employees with roughly one year or less of service were laid off from the organization in February.The organization also offered IRS employeesalong with almost all federal employees across the government”deferred resignation program” buyouts, though IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season were told earlier this month that they would not be allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until mid-May, after the taxpayer filing deadline.In addition to the planned layoffs, the Trump administration intends to lend IRS workers to the Department of Homeland Security to assist with immigration enforcement. In a letter sent in February, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to borrow IRS workers to help with ongoing immigration crackdown efforts.Koskinen and six other former IRS Commissioners wrote in the New York Times earlier this month: “Aggressive reductions in the I.R.S.’s resources will only render our government less effective and less efficient in collecting the taxes Congress has imposed.”According to a White House memo sent to federal agencies in late February, agencies are to develop a report by March 13 on its reduction in force plansbut it is unclear whether the White House will approve the IRS’ reorganization plan and over what period of time it would be implemented.Representatives for the White House, the Treasury Department and IRS did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment. The New York Times first reported the deliberations. Fatima Hussein, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed to implement mass deportations. Since regaining power, he has signed multiple executive orders aimed at tightening border security and increasing arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. In theory, an increase in deportationslet alone mass deportationscould impact U.S. homebuilders and their network of subcontractors. While we dont exactly know how many undocumented immigrants work in construction, we know its a chunk. In 2016, Pew Research Center estimated that 13% of the U.S. construction workforce is undocumented. In 2021, the Center for American Progress estimated that 23% of construction laborers are undocumented (see their full breakdown below). Last month, analysts at John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC) set out to find out if homebuilders are seeing an impact yet from deportations and arrests. So far, there hasnt been a big impact on the housing market: 11% of homebuilders in the JBREC survey said that recent deportations and/or changes in immigration policy have impacted their labor force. What are the major publicly-traded homebuilders saying publicly? Last week, Rick Palacios, director of research at JBREC, posted a roundup of recent comments made on earnings calls regarding deportations and the housing market. Here’s what they had to say: Century Communities, Q4 2024 earnings call (January 29, 2025): Regarding ICE raids and deportations […] This is still early on unfolding. We have not seen anything on the ground or in our cost structure that needs us to react in a certain way. Its just wait and see. But right now, we’re not seeing anything that is negative to the business. Beazer, Q1 2025 earnings call (January 30, 2025): Regarding impact of deportations and immigration issues […] Honestly, have not seen an impact. And we check in regularly. We’ve got a hotline set up internally to sort of anything, and I have not heard any news on that. I won’t be surprised if there is some in markets that we do business and in the industry. But so far, I have not heard of any. PulteGroup, Q4 2024 earnings call (January 30, 2025): Regarding impact of immigration enforcement […] It’s been a long-standing policy of our company trade partners and the labor that are on our job sites, we require verified residency status and/or work permits that allow them to work legally in the U.S. That’s been our position for a long time, it will continue to be our position. In terms of impacts to the broader labor force, even beyond just construction labor to the extent that there are deportation activities, there’s no question there’ll be less labor available and that will have an impact on all wage rates. And we’ll certainly have to deal with that as that becomes more clear. Taylor Morrison Home Corporation, Q4 2024 earnings call (February 12, 2025): Regarding potential impact of immigration . . . were happy to report that we haven’t seen anything hit the job site. Certainly, we’ve got protocols in place. Even though we’ve seen activity within markets, we have not seen anything hit our job sites. Coming into the year, we had a little bit of fear that we would see some absenteeism of folks. To date, I’d say there’s been no disruptions. Tri Pointe Homes, Q4 2024 earnings call (February 18, 2025): Regarding the impact of ICE raids or deportations […] No impacts at all. Typically, our trades have maintained the necessary requirements as far as making sure they’re legal citizens. Our trades have employees and teammates that have been with them for quite a while. Were not expecting any labor issues this year, to be honest with you. Toll Brothers, Q1 2025 earnings call (February 19, 2025): We have not seen any immediate supply chain impacts from tariffs or labor shortages due to changes in immigration policies, although we are monitoring developments closely and will pivot as necessary to deal with any issues that arise.
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E-Commerce
Its not just the tech industry that is facing layoffs in 2025. In recent weeks, a number of high-profile media and entertainment companies have seen job cuts. The most recent media giant to reportedly undergo layoffs is the Walt Disney Company. Heres what you need to know about the layoffs affecting the media industry right now. ABC News and Disney Entertainment Networks cut jobs The Walt Disney Company company is getting ready to let go of about 6% of its employees who work in the companys ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks units, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The layoffs will total about 200 employees and will reportedly be announced today. The move is being made to save costs on what used to be more profitable divisions but now arent seen as important in the ongoing shift to streaming. Fast Company reached out to Disney for comment. As part of the move, ABC will reportedly merge 20/20 and Nightline into one unit, which will result in lost jobs. The news network is also reportedly shutting down the news site 538, which currently employs about 15 people. As for the Disney Entertainment Networks unit, WSJ says its scheduling and program planning units will see job cuts. E.W. Scripps and Tegna lays off employees American broadcaster E.W. Scripps will also reportedly lay off workers across its local TV stations, reports TheWrap. The company currently owns 61 stations across the country, and employees are said to have begun being notified about the job cuts yesterday. It is unknown exactly how many employees E.W. Scripps will be laying off, but the company is said to employ about 5,200 workers. “We can confirm there were some position eliminations across about a dozen Scripps stations,” an E.W. Scripps spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment. “The media industry is in a state of continued disruption and, while difficult, these changes are part of Scripps ongoing commitment to adapt through this disruption and ensure we can continue providing our communities with essential services well into the future.” The reported E.W. Scripps layoffs come after another American broadcast company, Tegna Inc., which owns numerous NBC-affiliated stations, laid off its its VERIFY fact-checking team. As AdWeek reported, Tegnas fact-checking team included about 20 journalists and producers. Jobs disappear at WSJ and LA Times, too Its not just broadcast jobs that are going in the media industry. Jobs at print media giants have also been lost in recent days, too. The Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker sent a memo (via TalkingBizNews) to employees on Tuesday that the paper would be creating a new Technology & Media group based in New York to oversee its tech coverage. However, Tucker said the changes do mean that some reporters and editors in San Francisco and New York will be leaving us. Tucker did not say how many jobs would be lost. The Los Angeles Times will also see some journalists departingbut this is not due to layoffs. As noted by TheWrap, the newspaper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, has made buyout offers to over 40 newsroom staff. The buyout offer comes amid recent drama at the paper, including the pulling of the publication’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris late last year. Silver lining: January job losses lower than a year earlier According to data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the media industrywhich includes television, film, streaming, and newslost 624 jobs in January. That was a jump of 27% over the 490 jobs the industry lost in December 2024. However, January 2025s job losses of 624 media jobs were down 41% from the 836 media jobs lost in January 2024. When it comes to just the news segment of the media industrywhich includes digital, broadcast, and printChallenger, Gray & Christmas says 192 layoffs occurred in January 2025, down 64% from the 528 cuts in January 2024.
Category:
E-Commerce
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