The Federal Times reported that fewer than two percent of U.S. Postal Service employees who were offered a chance at early retirement last month accepted the offer - far less than postal management expected.
The Postal Service offered early retirement to 147,937 employees; they were required to make a decision by June 16, with their retirement beginning no later than July 31. Just 2,505 employees accepted the offer - about 1.7 percent.
That's down slightly from the last round of early retirements, which concluded in February. About 2.3 percent of the 22,381 eligible employees accepted the offer.
And it's well below what Postmaster General John Potter expected: In a March interview, Potter said he expected between 10,000 and 15,000 employees to accept the offer.
A postal spokesman, Greg Frey, said the Postal Service hadn't set any goals for the early retirement offer. "We don't set goals for the early retirements," Frey said. "But we usually expect that about 5 percent will retire ... as the likely estimate."
Postal officials refused to offer incentives to encourage employees to retire early - a recommendation from several members of Congress who said postal workers would be reluctant to retire in the midst of a severe recession.
The Postal Service has been aggressively cutting costs this year to close a projected $6 billion budget deficit. Postal managers say they're on track to slash 100 million work hours. They've also asked Congress for permission to switch to five-day mail delivery, which could save between $1.5 billion and $3 billion, and for changes to the law that governs the Postal Service's contributions to a trust fund for retiree health care, which could yield $2.3 billion in savings this year.
The Postal Service offered early retirement to 147,937 employees; they were required to make a decision by June 16, with their retirement beginning no later than July 31. Just 2,505 employees accepted the offer - about 1.7 percent.
That's down slightly from the last round of early retirements, which concluded in February. About 2.3 percent of the 22,381 eligible employees accepted the offer.
And it's well below what Postmaster General John Potter expected: In a March interview, Potter said he expected between 10,000 and 15,000 employees to accept the offer.
A postal spokesman, Greg Frey, said the Postal Service hadn't set any goals for the early retirement offer. "We don't set goals for the early retirements," Frey said. "But we usually expect that about 5 percent will retire ... as the likely estimate."
Postal officials refused to offer incentives to encourage employees to retire early - a recommendation from several members of Congress who said postal workers would be reluctant to retire in the midst of a severe recession.
The Postal Service has been aggressively cutting costs this year to close a projected $6 billion budget deficit. Postal managers say they're on track to slash 100 million work hours. They've also asked Congress for permission to switch to five-day mail delivery, which could save between $1.5 billion and $3 billion, and for changes to the law that governs the Postal Service's contributions to a trust fund for retiree health care, which could yield $2.3 billion in savings this year.
