Since 2000 the number of postal employees has decreased by over 300,000. Every craft has seen major reductions in size and hundreds of small post offices have been closed. Many mail processing centers have been consolidated. Yet, there stands one place that has actually seen a rise in the number of employees. Care to guess where?
The answer is at Postal Service headquarters in Washington, DC. Last year there was an 11% increase in the number of management people employed at HQ and even prior to 2013 the number rose every year. Hard to imagine why you would need more management people when the number of employees has been reduced so drastically.
In 2009 there was one HQ management person for every 1112 postal employees. In 2013 that number had been reduced to one management person for every 639 employees. Why? With less employees, fewer facilities, more mechanization, and reductions in mail volume you would logically think less management people would be needed.
In my opinion the USPS has always been overstaffed with supervisory/management personnel. Since they are charged with "running" the Postal Service I believe they protect their own and create jobs where none are needed. The Postal OIG, the Board of Governors, and the Postal Regulatory Commission seem to always look the other way, never questioning the size of management.
None of the postal reform being discussed in Congress really addresses this issue either. So I guess the Postal Service will continue to be "top heavy" while service declines and the financial problems continue.
Terry Grant, President OPWU AFL-CIO
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