Nearly 3,700 post offices will possibly close
In keeping with the digital age, the U.S. Postal Service will be potentially closing nearly 3,700 throughout the country. The Postal Service has been throughout the entirety of the recession to find ways to cut costs and increase revenues just to stay afloat. With rising postage costs, employee cut backs, and decreased hours, the U.S. Postal Service has been innovative in finding ways to stay open.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe made this week’s announcement and says, “The Postal Service of the future will be smaller, leaner and more competitive and it will continue to drive commerce, serve communities and deliver value.” Word on the streets is that the postal service might drop down to only five days a week and for those who actually rely on snail mail for information and business are visibly upset. The service cutbacks are necessary in order to close a $20 billion gap in revenue by 2015, according to CNN.
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In fiscal year 2010, the Postal service had an $8.5 billion net loss alone and only saw a $3.8 billion loss in 2009. And in 2Q2011, the service posted a loss of $2.2 billion; there are still two more months in fiscal year 2011.
The Postal Service says that many of the offices they want to close have very little foot traffic and minimal daily revenues. Closings are expected to begin by the end of the year and the savings could be upwards of $200 million. However, about 3,000 postmasters, 500 supervisors and another 500 to 1,000 clerks will be out of work and will add to the already hefty unemployment rate.
