In spite of cost-cutting efforts that saved more than $6 billion in FY 2009, and aggressive efforts to grow revenue, continuing volume and revenue losses clearly show the urgent need for additional changes in postal operations.
The Postal Service has a singular opportunity right now to implement five-day delivery in a way that will help it align the workforce with the needs of a five-day operation. A significant portion of the current workforce — 44 percent — is eligible to retire between now and 2014. After that, the number of retirement-eligible employees will fall dramatically.
Changing soon to five-day delivery will allow the Postal Service to deploy resources in a way that complements these pending retirements. Positions would not have to be filled with the intention of staffing for six-day delivery, only to have many of those jobs eliminated in the future.
