Dive Brief:
- Nearly 10,500 U.S. Postal Service employees accepted the agency's voluntary early retirement offer this year, according to its Q3 results for fiscal year 2025.
- The $15,000 payout per employee was available to eligible employees in crafts such as mail handler, clerk, maintenance and information technology, with separations taking effect April 30. The opt-in rate landed close to the Postal Service's expectations, as the agency expected around 10,000 employees to participate.
- The program built upon previous Postal Service reductions of 30,000 employees since fiscal year 2021 as part of the agency's push to trim operating costs. The agency employed 623,000 people as of June 30, down from 634,500 three months earlier.
Dive Insight:
Reducing labor expenses is just one way the Postal Service is pushing to improve its financial outlook as part of its 10-year Delivering for America plan launched under former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The agency's current leader, David Steiner, took over in July and aims to advance the wide-ranging initiative further, despite concerns from stakeholders.
"Although only three weeks into my tenure, my initial conclusion is that the 10-year plan positions the Postal Service to be on the right path," Steiner said during an agency board of governors meeting Thursday. "The strategy is sound. Now we have to execute."
Besides cutting costs, the Postal Service is also generating increased revenue from its package shipping services to strengthen its bottom line. The agency's Ground Advantage service saw revenue jump nearly 31% and volume climb almost 40% year over year in Q3.
The Postal Service posted a $3.1 billion net loss in Q3 despite the improvements, compared to a net loss of $2.5 billion for Q3 of fiscal year 2024. The agency said higher expenses tied to operations, compensation and benefits contributed to the results.
"Going forward, we will absolutely focus on opportunities to increase revenue and expand our market base, while controlling costs and removing redundancies from our operations and systems," Steiner said.
