USPS To Shut Down Carol Steam Office And Cut 7,500 Jobs

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Mar 27, 2011 5:45PM

It's no surprise that more people are communicating now by means of the internet and telecommunication. However, increased forms of alternative communication really means bad news for the U.S. Postal Service. As a response to financial and circulation losses, the USPS has been slowly getting around to implementing service changes and cutbacks, and all signs point to the fact that this is not going to be a fun ride. Among the seven district offices that the USPS plans on shutting down is a USPS district office in Carol Stream, Illinois. Unfortunately, the cuts don't stop there - the USPS also plans on letting go of 7,500 employees, the majority of them who are supervisors and postmasters. All of these changes will take place over the course of the year.

Regarding the district office closings, the article from Chicago Breaking Business reports that the USPS chose to focus on shutting down offices that are either in rural locations or offices that are not entirely necessary. Even if these locations close, it is argued that residents in each of the respective regions are able to access other offices nearby, which eases the blow a little bit. Furthermore, the same article highlights that cutting 7,500 employees will save the USPS a lot of money, even if it sounds incredibly drastic:

Slashing managers and closing district offices will save $750 million annually, postal officials said. The plan is the latest attempt by the Postal Service to right itself after losses of $8.5 billion in fiscal 2010; the agency projects it will be $6.4 billion in the red this year.

These major cuts show how much the U.S. Postal Service is hurting, and it feels even worse that it's hard to say whether these cuts (and any future cuts and adjustments) will really benefit the U.S. Postal Service in the long run.