◆ USPS seeking employees as staff remains limited.
You may have noticed in recent weeks changes in hours and other differences at your local post office. Perhaps you’ve stopped by only to find locked doors and a sign reading the post office is now closed for an hour or two every day. Is the worker shortage really having that big of an impact? The answer is yes.
“We’ve actually borrowed someone from Worland,” said James Boxrud, regional Public Relations Representative with the United States Postal Service. “Wherever we can borrow people to try to keep the window open and keep the mail delivered as much as possible. That’s kind of what we do.”
Not only has it been difficult to hire enough staff, but sickness and retirements have also added stress to the mail delivery process. “We have been keeping current with the mail, with boxing mail and things like that,” continued Boxrud. “Afton had been closed for a couple days but we’re open back up from 8:30-5:00.”
One change that is likely to remain in place through the Holiday season is a closure of the Afton Post Office from 1:00-2:00 each day. “Because we’re borrowing people from Afton to go and help some of the smaller offices too,” explained Boxrud. “That will give our employees a chance to get some lunch, but if needed to go ahead and send a clerk to one of the other offices to make sure that we’re able to open up those offices. And we’ll continue to borrow staff from other offices, and really from around the whole state, just to keep everything moving.”
“We want to apologize for any inconvenience,” concluded Boxrud. “As we continue to struggle just as businesses from around the area struggle with finding people to hire.”
Those who are interested in applying to work for a local post office can do so online at usps.com/careers and click “apply now.” Applicants are encouraged to check back weekly for updated job openings.
“The postal service doesn’t offer just a job,” Boxrud emphasised. “It offers a great career with great benefits. We’d like to have you not just to work for us but to retire with us.”
Other shipping and mail delivery services are also looking for added help, especially during the holiday season. UPS announced their annual “Brown Friday” event will take place this week at locations around the country. The company is looking to hire 60,000 workers nationwide to support its annual holiday shipping rush. Details can be found at UPSjobs.com.
FedEx also recently concluded a national hiring day in hopes of filling positions ahead of the holiday rush. They are hoping for 90,000 seasonal employees across the country. Open positions can be found at careers.fedex.com/fedex.
