They've been starved for labor. That is being fixed, but it will take a while.
Last time I had to actually talk to someone at the IRS was over a decade ago, but I recall it being an efficient conversation, and as pleasant as it could have been, given the topic.
Regardless of the reason, it's maddening when someone is holding onto a quantity of your money that is not quite large enough to want to fight for it in court, but plenty large enough to be meaningful to you, and essentially keeps it by successfully avoiding meaningful communication.
Last time I had to actually talk to someone at the IRS was over a decade ago, but I recall it being an efficient conversation, and as pleasant as it could have been, given the topic.
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-irs-was-gutted