The Postal Service is updating employees on its administrative restructuring.
In March, the organization announced the second phase of the restructuring, which included the consolidation of districts from 67 to 50, the centralization of marketing functions into the chief customer and marketing officer’s organization and the creation of a 13th division within Logistics and Processing.
The third and final phase includes finalizing the new organizational structures, centralizing the remaining administrative support functions, conducting a reduction in force (RIF) and a second voluntary early retirement option for eligible employees.
The Address Management and support functions for the Retail, Post Office Operations and Delivery programs within the area and district offices will be centralized into the chief retail and delivery officer’s organization. With this change, all USPS support functions are now centralized at headquarters.
USPS will share its final organizational structures and staffing with employees during departmental town hall meetings during the week of May 17.
Because the restructuring will reduce or eliminate some authorized positions, USPS will conduct a RIF.
As a part of RIF avoidance activities, the organization will offer a voluntary early retirement option to encourage more voluntary separations and help complete needed changes with minimal disruption to the workforce. This voluntary early retirement offer will not include a separation incentive.
On May 7, the Postal Service will email the voluntary early retirement offers to eligible employees, in addition to sending a hard-copy notification to home addresses through First-Class Mail.
Employees who decide to accept the offer must complete and submit the required documents for receipt at the Human Resources Shared Service Center by July 16; the retirements will take effect July 30.
For eligible employees who decide not to accept the voluntary early retirement offer, no response is required.
Beginning May 25, USPS will post job vacancies to facilitate the placement of employees in areas where organizational changes are occurring. These positions will be posted with limited area of consideration and will include all headquarters, area and district positions and Customer Service field positions.
Plant positions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
To ensure employees are informed and prepared, the Postal Service will offer a series of live support sessions from May 17-June 11 on a range of topics, including using eCareer, mock interviews and navigating change. A Preparing for Change — Learning Track for Employees guide on LiteBlue has more information about these sessions, which employees can register for by going to a Preparing for Change: Support Event page on HERO.
Several Postal Service websites have more information and resources for employees, including the Voluntary Early Retirement LiteBlue page, which has details on the offers; the Preparing for Change — Employee Support Blue page, which has information about the organizational changes, including timelines, guidance for leading and navigating change, career planning resources and more; and the Organizational Changes LiteBlue page, which has restructuring timelines, career planning resources and more.
Change can be challenging, and support is available. The USPS Employee Assistance Program can help those who need help coping with change or who could just use someone to talk to. The telephone number is 800-EAP-4-YOU (TTY: 877-492-7341) and the website is EAP4you.com.
