USPS Workforce Size and Employment Categories, 1990-2010
The following is a report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
The only groups to show an increase: Headquarters, Rural Carriers, Bldg. and Equip. Maint.Personnel Vehicle Maintenance Personnel,Non-bargaining Temporary, and Motor Vehicle Operators
Headquarters – “persons who work in a variety of capacities at the two central offices of the U.S. Postal Service, which are located in Washington, DC, and Rosslyn, VA.” numbers stood at 2000 in the CRS report covering 1986 but at the end of FY 2010 it is now 2,937.
Clerks show the biggest decrease over 23 years. In the CRS report covering 1987 it showed clerks numbers at 296,360. At the end of FY 2010 clerks had decreased to 157,168.
City carriers show 240,295 in 2001 but now stand at 192,180.
Supervisors show a high of 43,801 in 1991 but at the end of FY 2010 numbers have dropped to 27,792.
Rural carriers Full-Time show a high of 66,344 in 2006 and not stand at 66,845 at the end of FY 2010. It is interesting to note in previous CRS covering 1986, Rural carrier numbers were 35, 938.
Postmasters went from a high of 27,352 in 1986 to 23, 111 as of FY 2010.
Here is the summary from the CRS report covering 1990-2010. The full report is below:
This report provides data from the past 20 years on the size of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS’s)
workforce, including the number of persons employed by USPS by employment categories and
the number of persons employed by USPS under time-limited contracts. It also analyzes the most
salient aspects of these employment data. Read more
Congressional Research Service Overview of USPS Financial Condition 2010
This report provides an overview of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS’s) financial condition, recent legislation to alleviate the USPS’s financial challenges, and possible issues for the 111th Congress.
Since 1971, the USPS has been a self-supporting government agency that covers its operating costs with revenues generated through the sales of postage and related products and services.
Recently, the USPS has experienced significant financial challenges. After running modest profits from FY2004 through FY2006, the USPS lost $5.3 billion in FY2007 and $2.8 billion in FY2008.In May 2009, the USPS warned that it might experience a cash shortage at the end of September 2009. Two months later, the Government Accountability Office added the USPS’s financial condition “to the list of high-risk areas needing attention by the Congress and the executive branch.”
On September 30, 2009, Congress enacted H.R. 2918, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act [of] 2010. President Barack H. Obama signed the bill into law (P.L. 111-68) the next day. Section 164 of the law alleviated the USPS’s cash shortage by reducing the USPS’s statutorily required September 30, 2009, payment to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund from $5.4 billion to $1.4 billion. (The USPS must repay the $4 billion deferred obligation after FY2016.)
While Congress alleviated the USPS’s FY2009 cash shortage, it is unclear what the future holds for the USPS’s finances. Even with this assistance, the USPS had an FY2009 operating loss of $3.8 billion. As the USPS’s finances have deteriorated, its ability to absorb operating losses has been diminished. Between FY2005 and FY2009, the USPS’s debt rose from $0 to $10.2 billion. (The agency’s statutory debt limit is $15 billion.) The USPS has predicted operating deficits in FY2010, and its auditor has stated that there is “significant uncertainty” as to whether the USPS will have the cash required to make its FY2010 payment to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund.
A number of ideas for incremental reforms have been put forth that would improve the USPS’s financial condition in the short-term so that it might continue as a self-funding government agency, all of which would require Congress to amend current postal law. The ideas include (1) increasing the USPS’s revenues by altering postage rates and increasing its offering of nonpostal rates and services; and (2) reducing the USPS’s expenses by a number of means, such as recalculating the USPS’s retiree health care obligation and payments, closing postal facilities, and reducing mail delivery from six to five days.
This report will be updated to reflect significant developments.