The U.S. Postal Service’s Hiring Spree

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been on a hiring spree since the pandemic hit in mid-March. This is good news, with more than 40 million Americans looking for work. It is also another clear indication that USPS is not about to collapse before the election.

As listed below, USPS has issued 35 press releases about job opportunities since March 16, the day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued social distancing guidelines. By contrast, in the period from January 1- March 15, it issued only six such announcements.

A March 24 news release for Illinois, “It’s a Hiring Spree Postal Service Looking for Help,” says, “We are hiring hundreds of employees to work at processing facilities and Post Offices.” A May 1 announcement for the San Diego region says, “USPS needs to hire up to 500 employees immediately for the region.” This followed earlier announcements of 1,000 employees needed in the Bay Area and “hundreds” in Sacramento.

The Postal Service has also been recruiting 1,000 new employees in Minnesota, 200 in Denver and large numbers in Western Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida and many other states.

The brunt of the hiring, though not all, is to help deliver packages, the volume of which has risen significantly since mid-March. For April 2020, USPS reported package volume rose 35 percent from April 2019.

The hiring also comes when many are claiming that the Postal Service will collapse by the election without a massive federal bailout. The Postal Service fueled this by requesting $89 billion in COVID-19 assistance on April 9 at a Congressional hearing via Zoom. Yet, on May 8 its own 10-Q quarterly financial statement said it “will have sufficient liquidity to continue operating through at least May 2021.”

All this underscores the need for holistic postal reform over the next 12 months, the core component of which is to define USPS’s mission so that it can be a sustainable, self-funding organization.

Last but not least, we owe a collective thanks to the hard-working men and women in the Postal Service who have continued to work through the pandemic. At the start of 2020, USPS had 495,000 career employees and 163,000 non-career employees, or temporary employees. If USPS were a company, it would be second to only Walmart in number of employees.

Below are the recent Postal Service hiring announcements. Titles are as they appear in the news releases.

U.S. Postal Service
Recent Hiring News Releases
March 16, 2020-June 2, 2020

Alaska – Postal service package surge creates more jobs, April 10

Arizona – Postal Service Hiring Help at Arizona Facilities, April 2

California – As many as 1,000 jobs open at Bay Area Post Offices, March 23

California (San Diego) – Surge in Packages Prompts Hiring, May 1

California – San Francisco district goes Virtual featuring Free Hiring Event, May 20

California – San Francisco District goes Virtual featuring Free Hiring Event, May 29

Colorado – Denver Postal Service to fill 200 Positions, March 19

Delaware – USPS is Hiring, May 14

District of Columbia – Postal Service Job Openings, April 9

Florida (South Florida) – U.S. Postal Service is Hiring in South Florida, April 9

Florida (Central Florida) – POSTAL SERVICE IS HIRING IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, April 8

Illinois (Chicago) – USPS is Hiring, March 27

Illinois (Northern Illinois) – It’s a Hiring Spree: Postal Service Looking for Help, March 24

Indiana – The Postal Service is Hiring, May 1

Maine – Jobs available now with the country’s most trusted agency, April 30

Maryland – Postal Service Job Openings, April 9

Massachusetts – Jobs available now with the country’s most trusted agency, April 30

Michigan – The Postal Service is Hiring, May 15

Minnesota – POSTAL SERVICE IS HIRING HELP ACROSS MINNESOTA, March 24

Nevada – Postal Service is Hiring Help at Nevada Facilities, April 2

New Hampshire – Jobs available now with the country’s most trusted agency, April 30

New Jersey – USPS is Hiring, May 14

New Mexico – Postal Service Hiring Help at New Mexico Facilities, April 3

North Carolina – USPS is Hiring, April 9

Oklahoma – Postal Service is hiring in Oklahoma, April 9

Pennsylvania (Western Pennsylvania) – USPS is Hiring, April 4

Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) – USPS is Hiring, April 30

Rhode Island – Jobs available now with the country’s most trusted agency, April 30

Texas – Postal Service Accepting Applications For Positions In Houston District, April 22

Vermont – Jobs available now with the country’s most trusted agency, April 30

Virginia (Richmond and Northern Virginia) – Postal Service Job Openings, April 7

Virginia (Richmond and Norfolk) – Postal Service Job Openings, April 17

Wisconsin – Postal Service is Hiring Help in Western Wisconsin, March 24

Wisconsin – Madison Post Office Is Hiring, March 24

Wisconsin – It’s a Hiring Spree: Postal Service Looking For Help, March 24

For a full list of recent USPS state and local news releases see the website page here.

About the Author: Paul Steidler is a Senior Fellow with the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank based in Arlington, Virginia.