After months of criticism for implementing cost-cutting and service delays in the midst of a presidential election that relied on mail-in ballots to ensure safety during the pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is finally sharing details of its long-promised restructuring plan.
In a bid to boost efficiency and slash the service’s history of quarterly financial losses, the USPS will launch phased organizational changes starting in August that include geographical district consolidations, centralization of marketing functions, early retirement offers, and a realignment of logistics and processing operations, the agency said today.
Among those changes, the USPS plans to reorganize its processing operations by creating a 13th division among its two main regions, saying the move ensures that logistics and processing segment is better aligned with its retail and delivery arm.
The changes mark a return to the overhaul promised by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a prominent donor to former President Donald Trump who was selected in 2020 by the postal service’s Board of Governors. Since then, the Biden Administration has made several new appointments to that board in a signal that DeJoy could come in for increased scrutiny in the future.
“These organizational changes will strengthen our mission and commitment to serve the American people by improving efficiency and streamlining decision making throughout the organization,” DeJoy said. “By improving operational focus and business strategy execution along with greater investment, we will strengthen our public service mission, achieve service excellence, and place the Postal Service on a path toward financial sustainability.”
In a statement, DeJoy also said that USPS will soon complete its planning for coming staffing changes involved in the final phase of the organizational restructure, and announce those plans in May. “Since 2007, we have recorded significant net losses each year. Absent substantial changes, our financial losses will continue to widen, and our ability to invest in the future of the organization will be severely curtailed,” he said.
