USPS Office of Inspector General

A business is only as good as its employees, which is why more and more organizations are offering flexible workforce policies to attract and retain the best workers. Among other things, flexible workforce policies help employees adjust their work schedules to the needs and circumstances of their personal lives, so they can have a healthier work-life balance. The idea is that happier employees are more committed and productive employees, and that leads to better customer service.

For many Americans, Labor Day marks the end of summer and a day to grill hot dogs or enjoy the pool one last time before it closes for the season. Labor Day’s history is often overlooked. It was started to salute the social and economic achievement of American workers, and to pay tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength and prosperity of the country.

Matching workforce to workload has been a long-term struggle for the U.S. Postal Service. In its banner years, when volume was increasing, the Postal Service often found it difficult to quickly reduce workhours to offset seasonal dips in mail volume. Over the past 6 years, as volumes have steadily declined, the Postal Service has done a better job of matching its work hours to its workload. It has its lowest number of career employees in 25 years and productivity has seen steady cumulative improvement.

This is the second topic in our "Five Elements of a Postal Solution" blog series. Link to last week's topic.

Link to the March 13 blog by Cliff Guffey.
Link to the March 14 blog by Alan Robinson.
Link to the March 15 blog by John Callan.
Link to the March 16 recap.

The Postal Service Network of the Future

Consumer needs for postal services are changing quickly resulting in the U. S. Postal Service developing a plan to right size the workforce. New Postmaster General and CEO Pat Donahoe announced on March 24 that the Postal Service plans to enact the Reduction in Force (RIF) and Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) processes with the goal of eliminating 7,500 administrative, supervisory, and postmaster positions. Additionally, the Postal Service will cut the number of vice president level officers by 16 percent and eliminate the senior vice president position.

One area identified in the Postal Service’s action for the future is to increase workforce flexibility. A larger, part-time work force would give postal management the flexibility to increase or decrease employees depending on mail volume. Although this change is not as drastic as closing postal facilities or switching to 5-day delivery, it raises questions about what a part-time postal workforce would look like. The Postal Service has fewer part-time employees than any other international postal operation. Currently only 13 percent of its workforce is part-time.