Back around 2000 i used to do computer service work at the large IRS building In Andover, MA. once in a while.
At the time i used to service many private companies and government But walking into the IRS was like a time warp.
The oldest, filthiest computers that i would ever work on.
It was amazing that they got stuff done..
People watch TV and see the Government with all this high tech sci-fi stuff and that was NEVER the case in the places i worked....the opposite.
I’ve heard the same from a few other sources. As with all government agencies - federal and most states - the money is getting syphoned off to go who knows where?
It is a massive rip off.
I knew an ex-IBM’er that installed a new tape drive(before everything went solid state), and the next week - it was broken. He repaired it - and the next week there was a tape crammed into it sideways. He found out that the staff(unionized), demanded pay raises and training on any “new” equipment - even though it functioned the same as the older one.
As for the IRS:
My Mom told the story of her day working for the IRS in CT. This was in the 50’s - so everything was processed by hand. First day of work, she picked up her box of documents and began going through them. A couple hours later - she finished and went to get another box.
Everyone in the office stared at her while she went back to her desk. At lunch she was taken aside by another worker and was told, “We only do 1 box of returns before lunch and 1 in the afternoon.” She quit the following day.
Government work in a nutshell.