Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said: “We are staking out our position and going for it. That means change. Change for everyone. Our need to change is obvious, necessary and an important step in our transformation.” 

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said: “We are staking out our position and going for it. That means change. Change for everyone. Our need to change is obvious, necessary and an important step in our transformation.”  Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Postmaster General Tells USPS Employees to Keep Upcoming Workforce Changes ‘in Perspective’

DeJoy says it is a "fool's errand" to try to predict all the changes postal workers will face in the coming years.

The U.S. Postal Service is asking employees to remain flexible and forward thinking as it adapts to whatever reforms may come ahead, saying changes such as longer commutes will serve the interest of the organization. 

As USPS prepares to roll out its plan to consolidate some operations away from post offices and into larger facilities, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has delivered a message to employees to think of the efficiencies for the agency ahead of their own inconveniences. He also stressed that employees will report to nicer buildings with improved equipment, making their work days more pleasant overall. 

“I realized that change is never easy, so I don't want to minimize it,” DeJoy said in a recent video message for all employees. “However, I do ask you to put the changes that might impact you in perspective since I can assure you that the changes we are proposing are vitally necessary, and will significantly improve the long term prospects for the Postal Service as a great American institution.” 

The changes, expected to begin at a select few pilot facilities this month, will mean letter carriers no longer go to their local facility to pick up mail for their route, instead traveling farther distances after starting at a consolidated location. The impacted post offices will still conduct their retail operations, but a lot of the back-end functions will be stripped away and relocated. Many clerks will have to relocate to new facilities and some postmasters could be out of a job or forced to find a new one. 

“For some of you, this might mean you have to travel a little further to get to work,” DeJoy said. “But when you get there, you will have nicer facilities and better equipment, and you will be personally contributing to the transformation of the United States Postal Service.”

The postmaster general said USPS must adapt to the evolving market and his reforms will lead to greater productivity and efficiency. He added no entity can survive without improving productivity. 

“We are staking out our position and going for it,” DeJoy said. “That means change. Change for everyone. Our need to change is obvious, necessary and an important step in our transformation.” 

DeJoy cautioned, however, that he cannot guarantee the shape that every aspect of the transition will take. 

“Trying to predict every change we will make along the way is a fool’s errand,” he said. 

One letter carrier in Cincinnati told Government Executive she and her colleagues would embrace the changes—including the longer commutes—if it was actually proven to cut costs, but employees have doubts that paying them more to drive longer actually will lead to efficiencies. DeJoy has said it will save costs on the contracted trucks that USPS hires to bring mail between various facilities. With the routes taking longer as letter carriers travel further, management has told various groups it will have to add some new staff.

“We are paid by the hour,” the letter carrier said. “If it takes us longer, that costs the Postal Service money.” She added if carriers are pressured to complete their routes in the same amount of time despite the longer drives, “that could start some tension.”

Postal management has in recent weeks ramped up its communication with employee groups, but leaders for those organizations said their questions about the impact of the changes on their members have largely gone unanswered. USPS officials have not shared or made public the data underlying their assumptions of cost savings. Inspector general reports have found previous consolidation initiatives have realized just a small fraction of projected savings, though DeJoy has stressed his renewed effort will bring about more benefits than just lowered costs. 

DeJoy suggested he has already vastly improved the trajectory for the USPS workforce. Previous leadership had overseen a significant workforce reduction, increased outsourcing, declined to invest in infrastructure and hired far more non-career workers who often quickly left the agency. While DeJoy has said he could further cut 50,000 postal positions through attrition, he noted that he has converted 100,000 non-career employees into permanent staff. He said USPS will continue to bring in new equipment to improve working conditions and vowed to expand offerings such as same-day delivery, return services and initiatives like the highly successful delivery of COVID-19 test kits to households throughout the country.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.