USPS - Workforce Flexibility : Would it Work

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Workforce Flexibility – Would it Work for the Postal Service?

http://blog.uspsoig.gov/?p=3603" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One area identified in the Postal Service’s action for the future is to increase workforce flexibility. A larger, part-time work force would give postal management the flexibility to increase or decrease employees depending on mail volume. Although this change is not as drastic as closing postal facilities or switching to 5-day delivery, it raises questions about what a part-time postal workforce would look like.

The Postal Service has fewer part-time employees than any other international postal operation. Currently only 13 percent of its workforce is part-time. Meanwhile, Deutsche Post employs a 40 percent part-time staff, while the United Kingdom’s Royal Mail employs 22 percent. Local competitors also have a higher percentage of part-time employees. For example, UPS employs a 53 percent part-time workforce and FedEx remains around 40 percent. Generally speaking, the Postal Service is behind the average American private sector firm, which employs a 30 percent part-time labor workforce.

Is there a downside to employing a larger part-time workforce? Critics argue that part-time employees are less loyal to their employers, and as a result, they increase ”quasi-fixed” costs associated with recruiting, training, and oversight. However, recent findings call these assertions into question. A study in the Annual Review of Sociology found that part-time employees are just as likely as full-time employees to view their jobs as a “central life activity” and to be “equally committed to their organizations.” Moreover, the study also mentioned that employees’ demand for part-time jobs has increased since the 1980s, as the American workforce has increasingly desired job flexibility.

Increasing the number of part-time postal employees would make the Postal Service more flexible in the face of declining mail volumes, seasonal fluctuations, and market volatility.

[POSTMAN]

Go to the link and vote in the poll,you will know which one to vote for.

[baldrick]

Go to the link and vote in the poll,you will know which one to vote for.

Done - support your US colleagues.
Seems they are facing the replacement of FT jobs with PT like we are.

[DGP1]

The Postal Service should not replace full-time retirees with part-time employees. (50%, 516 Votes)