Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says the Postal Service may need to reduce its employee headcount by 50,000 positions, as the agency looks to consolidate its network of facilities that process mail.
DeJoy, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute on Wednesday, said he plans to consolidate 500 facilities that USPS processes and moves mail through down to about 65 or 75 regional hubs.
DeJoy said he’s “committed to a stable workforce,” and is working with postal unions on this effort, but will easily manage any headcount reduction through attrition.
“Right now, to get to break-even, I think we may need to get 50,000 people out of the organization. But that’s OK, because over the next two years, 200,000 people leave the organization for retirement. So we’re going to be a hiring organization,” DeJoy said. “We need to be good at retention, we need to be good at recruiting people, and we’re doing a lot of different activity around there.”