Technology

IRS urged to create IT skills inventory

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recommends IRS' chief technology officer create an "inventory list" with the skills needed for...

Jolie Lee

October 16, 2012 2:37 pm

< a min read

The IRS needs to do a better job of tracking its IT workforce’s skills, according to a report from the agency’s watchdog.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recommends IRS’ chief technology officer create an “inventory list” with the skills needed for each IT position, as well as a process for evaluating an IT employee’s skills.

“Documenting the capabilities of its information technology workforce will increase the IRS’s ability to deliver effective tax administration,” said J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, in an emailed statement.

TIGTA also recommends creating a forecast of the types of skills the IRS IT workforce will need in the next three to five years.

As of May 2012, IRS employed 7,200 IT professionals and nearly 2,000 contractors, according to the report.

The agency agreed with TIGTA’s recommendations and is now developing an IT Workforce Tool to collect information on skills and areas of expertise, as well as ratings based on IT employees’ self-assessments.

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