U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and
Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012
Meredith A. Levine
Analyst in Government Organization and Management
March 29, 2013
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS22864
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Summary
This report provides data from the past 25 years on the size of the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS’s)
workforce. Further, this report examines trends in workforce composition, particularly focusing
on shifts in the ratio between career and non-career employment.
USPS employed 629,028 persons as of September 30, 2012 (FY2012). USPS’s workforce size
has dropped by 170,772 employees (21.4%) in the past 25 years, and USPS had 16,922 (2.6%)
fewer employees at the end of FY2012 than it did at the end of FY2011. Since 1987, the
career/non-career composition of USPS’s workforce has also changed. The number of career
employees has declined 29.6%, while the number of non-career employees has increased 105.3%.
In FY2011, USPS hired 10,471 employees for a new non-career position referred to as postal
support employee (PSE). The number of PSEs increased 93.7% to 20,281 between FY2011 and
FY2012.
Although the size of each employment category has shifted over the past 25 years, three
overarching trends are apparent. First, “rural” employment categories grew significantly. Second,
three categories of USPS employees involved in the transportation of mail prior to its delivery—
mail handlers, motor vehicle operators, and vehicle maintenance personnel—grew through the
1980s and 1990s, peaked in the early 2000s, and either returned to their FY1987 levels in FY2012
or declined below those levels. Third, non-bargaining temporary employees have increased more
than tenfold from 297 in FY1987 to 3,537 in FY2012.
In recent years, the USPS has experienced significant financial challenges. After running modest
profits from FY2004 through FY2006, the USPS lost $41.1 billion between FY2007 and FY2012.
The USPS’s financial circumstances have prompted it to undertake cost-cutting measures,
primarily through workforce reductions. USPS has reduced its workforce size through attrition
and separation incentives to retire or resign. Since FY2007, there has been a reduction of 156,901
employees from USPS’s workforce.
The USPS has indicated that it intends to continue to reduce its workforce size and has
established a goal of 155,000 additional position reductions by 2016. On February 6, 2013, USPS
announced it intended to cease delivering letter mail on Saturdays as of August 1, 2013. This
change would affect the equivalent of 35,000 positions. Throughout 2012, USPS offered several
retirement incentives to its employees, including postmasters, mail handlers, postal clerks, and
supervisors.
This report will be updated as events warrant.


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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Contents
Data Source ...................................................................................................................................... 1
Data Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 1
Workforce Size .......................................................................................................................... 1
Career Employees vs. Non-Career Employees .......................................................................... 3
Employment Categories ............................................................................................................ 5
USPS Workforce Size: Recent Developments ........................................................................... 7

Figures
Figure 1. Total, Career, and Non-Career USPS Employees ............................................................. 3
Figure 2. Total USPS Employees ..................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3. Percentage Change in Career and Non-Career Employees .............................................. 6
Figure 4. U.S. Postal Service Workforce by State ........................................................................... 7

Tables
Table 1. Number of USPS Employees by Employment Category, FY1987−FY2012 ..................... 1
Table 2. Career and Non-Career Employees as a Percentage of the USPS Workforce,
FY1987−FY2012 .......................................................................................................................... 5

Appendixes
Appendix. Brief Descriptions of USPS Employment Categories .................................................. 10

Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 12

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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Data Source
Each year, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) issues an Annual Report (hereafter, the Report) that
includes data on its workforce. The Report categorizes employees as either “career employees” or
“non-career employees.” According to USPS, the career employees category includes persons
with permanent positions at USPS, part- and full-time. The non-career employees category
includes all persons hired under time-limited contracts.1 The Report also provides breakdowns of
the number of workers by employment categories (e.g., regional offices personnel, clerks, and
rural delivery carriers, amongst others). The Appendix of this report presents brief descriptions
of these employment categories. This report provides workforce data drawn from the Reports
covering FY1987 through FY2012.2
Data Analysis
Workforce Size
Between FY1987 and FY2012, the size of USPS’s workforce decreased 21.4%, from 799,800
employees to 629,028 employees (Table 1, Figure 1). Data on the overall workforce during this
25-year period show a rise in employees in the 1990s and a decline in employees from the 2000s
through the present. USPS’s workforce peaked in FY1999 with 905,766 employees.3 In FY2012,
USPS operated with its smallest workforce in at least 25 years (Figure 2).
Table 1. Number of USPS Employees by Employment Category, FY1987−FY2012
(five-year intervals)
Change Change (%)
Employment
FY1987-
FY1987-
Category
FY1987 FY1992 FY1997 FY2002 FY2007 FY2012 FY2012
FY2012
Career Employees
Headquarters
2,101 2,434 1,949 1,712 2,856 2,922 821 39.08%
Headquarters—
5,792 5,663 4,319 3,848 4,527 4,189 -1,603 -27.68%
Related Field Units
Inspection Service—
4,278 4,324 4,347 3,875 2,991 2,403 -1,875 -43.83%
Field
Inspector General
0 0
101
722
1,147
1,124
1,124
N/A
Area Offices
Personnel
0
0 1,566 2,107 1,281 805 805 N/A

1 The data on non-career employment do not include persons carrying out postal-related functions outsourced to private
firms. For example, USPS no longer has a fleet of cargo aircraft. Today, the Postal Service contracts with private firms
for the transportation of mail by air. The persons who fly and maintain these planes are not included in the data on non-
career employees.
2 U.S. Postal Service, Annual Report of the Postmaster General (Washington: USPS, 1985-1995); U.S. Postal Service,
Annual Report of the United States Postal Service (Washington: USPS, 1996-2010); and U.S. Postal Service, Annual
Report to Congress and Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations (Washington: USPS, 2011-2012).
3 Over the 25-year period covered in this report.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Change Change (%)
Employment
FY1987-
FY1987-
Category
FY1987 FY1992 FY1997 FY2002 FY2007 FY2012 FY2012
FY2012
Regional Offices
431
586 0 0 0 0
-431
-100.00%
Postmasters/
27,735 26,496 26,256 25,771 25,285 17,376 -10,359 -37.35%
Installation Heads
Supervisors/Managers 43,076 43,185 35,708 37,829 32,635 23,566 -19,510 -45.29%
Prof. Admin. and
Tech. Personnel
10,582 10,440 11,369 9,661 8,058 4,501 -6,081 -57.47%
Clerks
296,360 268,049 280,818 256,656 204,145
0
-296,360 -100.00%
Clerks/Nursesa 0 0 0 0 0
139,666
139,666
N/A
Nurses
325 286 193 173 160 0 -325
-100.00%
Mail
Handlers
48,879 49,520 59,147 59,259 57,882 42,033 -6,846 -14.01%
City Delivery
229,706 223,088 234,033 233,639 222,132 176,808 -52,898 -23.03%
Carriers
Motor Vehicle
7,031 7,086 8,625 9,092 8,726 6,885 -146 -2.08%
Operators
Rural Delivery
Carriers—Full-Time
36,551 43,283 49,957 60,817 67,584 66,549 29,998 82.07%
Special Delivery
2,209
1,742
1,331
0 0 0
-2,209
-100.00%
Messengers
Bldg. and Equip.
31,047 34,367 39,954 42,275 39,948 34,705 3,658 11.78%
Maint. Personnel
Vehicle Maintenance
Personnel
4,705 4,741 5,501 5,513 5,405 4,926 221 4.70%
Subtotal
750,808 725,290 765,174 752,949 684,762 528,458 -222,350 -29.61%
Non-Career Employees
Casuals
9,621 27,204 32,615 19,065 22,078 5,651 -3,970 -41.26%
Postal Support
Employees
0 0 0 0 0
20,281
20,281
N/A
Non-bargaining
297 603 774 807 1,244
3,537
3,240
1090.91%
Temporary
Rural
Subs/RCA/RCR/
29,831 43,830 54,834 56,474 60,444 48,170 18,339 61.48%
AUX
Postmaster
Relief/Leave
9,243 12,415 12,687 12,234 12,169 8,727 -516 -5.58%
Replacements
Transitional
Employees
0
9,732 26,789 12,847 5,232 14,204 14,204 N/A
Subtotal
48,992 93,784 127,699 101,427 101,167 100,570 51,578 105.28%
Total Employees
799,800 819,074 892,873 854,376 785,929 629,028 -170,772 -21.35%
Source: CRS analysis of data provided by USPS.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

a. In 2009, USPS reported no nurses in that employment category. In FY2010, “nurses” was joined with
“clerks,” creating a single employment category. It is unclear why USPS merged those two employment
categories, but both “nurses” and “clerks” are represented by the same postal union.
Figure 1. Total, Career, and Non-Career USPS Employees
FY1987−FY2012

Source: CRS analysis of data provided by USPS.
Career Employees vs. Non-Career Employees
USPS categorizes its workforce into two types of employees: career and non-career. Non-career
employees serve in time-limited or otherwise temporary positions.4 In many cases, non-career
employees are not provided benefits that are provided to career employees.5 Figure 1 shows
trends in career and non-career USPS employment from FY1987 to FY2012. The number of
career employees has decreased from FY1987 to FY2012, while the number of non-career
employees has increased from FY1987 to FY2012. The number of career employees decreased by
29.6% between FY1987 and FY2012, from 750,808 to 528,458. During that time period, non-
career USPS employees increased by 105.3%, from 48,992 to 100,570 (Table 1). The proportion
of the USPS workforce that is non-career has increased approximately 10 percentage points from
6.1% in FY1987 to 16.0% in FY2012.
USPS has reported data in 19 total career categories since FY1987, though this number includes
categories in which the position had yet to be instituted in FY1987 (N/A in the last column of

4 The employee categories that comprise both career and non-career employee types are defined in the Appendix.
5 For example, according to the USPS’s Employee and Labor Relations Manual, non-career employees are excluded
from coverage under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). U.S. Postal Service, Employee and Labor
Relations Manual, ELM 33, December 2012, p. 573, at http://about.usps.com/manuals/elm/elmc5.pdf.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Table 1) or discontinued by FY2012 (−100.00% in the last column of Table 1).6 Twelve career
employment categories have remained intact between FY1987 and FY2012. Of these categories,
8 had fewer employees in FY2012 than in FY1987.7 “Professional Administrative and Technical
Personnel” experienced the greatest percentage decrease in employees from FY1987 to FY2012,
with a 57.5% decrease (6,081 fewer employees). Four of the twelve categories of employees that
were populated from FY1987 through FY2012 experienced an increase in their level of
employment.8 “Rural Delivery Carriers—Full-Time” experienced the largest increase in both
percentage change (82.1%) and actual number (29,998 more employees).
There are two reductions in the six non-career employee categories. The number of casuals, or
temporary employees who do not receive full-time employee benefits, dropped 41.3% from 9,621
employees in FY1987 to 5,651 in FY2012. The number of “Postmaster Relief/Leave
Replacements” decreased approximately 5.6% from 9,243 in FY1987 to 8,727 in FY2012.
In 2011, USPS started hiring a new category of non-career employee called postal support
employees (PSEs). As of September 30, 2012, USPS had 20,281 PSEs. PSEs were created
pursuant to USPS’s contract agreement with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU).9 A
USPS press release stated that the PSEs were to “provide the USPS with flexibility.”10 According
to the APWU, the PSEs may comprise up to 20% “of most functional areas of the Clerk Craft,”
and up to 10% in both the “Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Crafts.”11 PSEs are “paid lower
wages than career employees ... [and] will be part of the APWU bargaining unit and will receive
raises, health benefits, and leave.”12
The percentage of USPS’s workforce consisting of career employees declined from 93.9% to
84.0% between FY1987 and FY2012. Despite their decline, career employees have constituted
the vast majority of USPS’s workforce during the past two and a half decades (Figure 1, Table
2).

6 Since FY1987, USPS has added an Office of Inspector General, which, at the end of FY2012, had 1,124 employees.
Additionally, the category of “area offices” did not have any employees in 1987 but had 805 in FY2012. As of
FY1993, USPS discontinued the “regional offices” category. In FY2009, USPS had no “nurses” in the “nurses”
category. In FY2010, USPS merged the “clerks” and “nurses” categories. One category of employee, “discontinued
operations,” included employees in FY1993, FY1994, and FY1996 but had no employees in that category in any other
year of analysis.
7 These categories include Headquarters—Related Field Units (prior to FY2012, Headquarters—Field Support Units),
Inspection Service—Field, Postmasters/Installation Heads, Supervisors/Managers, Professional Administrative and
Technical Personnel, Mail Handlers, City Delivery Carriers, and Motor Vehicle Operators.
8 These categories include Headquarters, Rural Delivery Carriers—Full-Time, Building and Equipment Maintenance
Personnel, and Vehicle Maintenance Personnel.
9 The labor contract agreement went into effect on May 23, 2011.
10 U.S. Postal Service, “Postal Service Establishes New Position,” press release, June 8, 2011, at http://about.usps.com/
news/state-releases/fl/2011/fl_2011_0610.htm.
11 American Postal Workers Union, “Highlights of the 2010-2015 Tentative Agreement,” April 18, 2011, p. 9, at
http://www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2011/nsb07-110418-highlights.pdf. The collective bargaining agreement between the
APWU and USPS defines “Craft Groups” as “[t]hose positions for which the Union [APWU] has secured exclusive
recognition at the national level.” American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, and U.S. Postal Service, Collective
Bargaining Agreement, May 23, 2011, p. 156, at http://www.apwu.org/dept/ind-rel/sc/APWU Contract 2010-2015.pdf.
12 American Postal Workers Union, “Highlights of the 2010-2015 Tentative Agreement,” p. 9.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Employment Categories
Although the size of each employment category has shifted over the past 25 years, three
overarching trends are apparent. First, rural employment cohorts exhibited considerable growth.
Full-time rural delivery carriers rose 82.1%, from 36,551in FY1987 to 66,549 in FY2012, and
other rural carriers (rural subs/RCA/RCR/AUX) increased 61.5%, from 29,831 to 48,170. In
contrast, the number of city delivery carriers dropped 23.0% from 229,706 in FY1987 to 176,808
in FY2012. USPS has indicated that 60% to 70% of population growth occurred in rural areas for
much of the 25-year period. In addition, total USPS mail volume increased in these areas through
2005, leading to a greater need for delivery carriers in those areas.13
Second, three categories of USPS employees involved in the transportation of mail prior to its
delivery grew through the 1980s and 1990s, peaked in the early 2000s, and either returned to their
FY1987 levels in FY2012 or declined below those levels. The number of mail handlers was
48,879 in FY1987, 59,259 in FY2002, and 42,033 in FY2012. Motor vehicle operators numbered
7,031 in FY1987, 9,092 in FY2002, and 6,885 in FY2012. Vehicle maintenance personnel, who
play a supporting role in mail transportation, totaled 4,705 in FY1987, 5,513 in FY2002, and
4,926 in FY2012.
Third, non-bargaining temporary employees have increased more than tenfold—1090.9%—from
297 in FY1987 to 3,537 in FY2012.
Table 2. Career and Non-Career Employees as a Percentage of the USPS Workforce,
FY1987−FY2012
(five-year intervals)
Employees FY1987 FY1992 FY1997 FY2002 FY2007 FY2012
Career
Employees
93.87% 88.55% 85.70% 88.13% 87.13% 84.01%
Non-Career
6.13% 11.45% 14.30% 11.87% 12.87% 15.99%
Employees
Total
100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%
Source: CRS analysis of data provided by USPS.

13 Information provided electronically to CRS from USPS on August 3, 2009.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Figure 2. Total USPS Employees
FY1987−FY2012

Source: CRS analysis of data provided by USPS.
Figure 3. Percentage Change in Career and Non-Career Employees
FY1987–FY2012

Source: CRS analysis of data provided by USPS.
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Figure 3 shows the yearly percentage change in USPS workforce size, disaggregating the data by
career and non-career employees. The decrease in size of the USPS workforce between FY2008
and FY2009 was the steepest decrease in the past 25 years. As the trend lines indicate, the
percentage change in career employees has remained relatively stable, though it has been negative
for the past decade. In contrast, the percentage change in non-career employees shows greater
variance over time. The number of non-career employees declined between FY2008 and FY2010,
before beginning to increase again in FY2011. There is a discernible uptick between FY2011 and
FY2012—the percentage change in non-career employees increased from 1.05% in FY2011 to a
13.38% in FY2012.
Figure 4 shows the USPS workforce by state.
Figure 4. U.S. Postal Service Workforce by State
As of December 2012

Source: CRS analysis of data provided by the U.S. Postal Service.
USPS Workforce Size: Recent Developments
In recent years, the USPS has experienced significant financial challenges. After running modest
profits from FY2004 through FY2006, the USPS lost $41.1 billion between FY2007 and FY2012.
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Were it not for congressional action, the USPS would have lost an additional $4.0 billion.14 As
USPS’s finances have deteriorated, its ability to absorb operating losses has been diminished.
Between FY2005 and FY2012, USPS’s debt rose from $0 to $15 billion. The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) added the USPS’s financial condition “to the list of high-risk areas
needing attention by the Congress and the executive branch.”15
Among the causes for the USPS’s financial downturn is the large drop in mail volume. Since
FY2007, the number of mail pieces delivered per year fell from 212 billion to 158 billion.16 As a
result, operating revenues were nearly $7 billion lower in FY2012 ($65.2 billion) than in FY2007
($72 billion).17
The USPS’s challenging financial circumstances have prompted it to undertake cost-cutting
measures, primarily through workforce reductions. USPS has reduced its workforce size through
attrition and separation incentives to retire or resign.18 Since FY2007, there has been a reduction
of 156,901 employees from USPS’s workforce.19
The USPS has indicated that it intends to continue to reduce its workforce size. In its second
quarter report for FY2012 released May 10, 2012, USPS stated:
We project that a further reduction from the current levels of the equivalent of 155,000 full-
time career employees by 2016 will be necessary to properly align staffing levels with
projected mail volume. It is expected that this will be achieved largely through attrition, as
half of our career employees are eligible for retirement or early retirement.20
The following is a list of the most recent USPS actions related to its attempts to further reduce the
size of its workforce:
• On February 6, 2013, USPS announced it intended to cease delivering letter mail
on Saturdays as of August 1, 2013. According to USPS, this change would
eliminate the equivalent of 35,000 positions, including supervisors, though the
city delivery category would realize the greatest impact.21
• During 2012, approximately 26,500 USPS postal clerks, mail truck drivers, and
maintenance employees left their positions by accepting early retirement

14 U.S. Postal Service, 2012 Report on Form 10-K, November 15, 2012, pp. 24 and 53, at http://about.usps.com/who-
we-are/financials/10k-reports/fy2012.pdf; and CRS Report R41024, The U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition:
Overview and Issues for Congress, by Kevin R. Kosar.
15 Government Accountability Office, Restructuring the U.S. Postal Service to Achieve Sustainable Financial Viability,
GAO-09-937SP, July 28, 2009, p. 1, at http://www.gao.gov/press/d09937sp.pdf.
16 U.S. Postal Service, 2012 Report on Form 10-K, pp. 24-27.
17 Ibid., p. 26; and CRS Report R41024, The U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview and Issues for
Congress, by Kevin R. Kosar.
18 U.S. Postal Service, Quarter I, 2013 Report on Form 10-Q, February 8, 2013, p. 32, at http://about.usps.com/who-
we-are/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2013-q1.pdf.
19 U.S. Postal Service, Annual Report to Congress and Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations.
20 U.S. Postal Service, Quarter II, 2012 Report on Form 10-Q, May 10, 2012, p. 39, at http://about.usps.com/who-we-
are/financials/financial-conditions-results-reports/fy2012-q2.pdf.
21 U.S. Postal Service, “Six-Day Package/Five-Day Mail Delivery, Background/Talking Points/FAQs,” internal
document, February 2013.
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incentives.22 Under this program, an employee received a $15,000 payment (less
taxes and applicable deductions) if he or she resigned, retired, or retired pursuant
to a Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA).23
• USPS offered voluntary retirement incentives to nearly 3,600 supervisory,
professional, technical, clerical, administrative, and managerial personnel. As of
late November 2012, less than 200 employees had accepted the offer to conclude
their employment.24
• In May 2012, USPS offered voluntary retirement incentives to 21,000
postmasters. 25 Postmasters had until June 22, 2012, to determine whether to
accept the $20,000 incentive to leave service. Approximately 4,275 postmasters
accepted the offer.26
• Also in May 2012, USPS and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union
(NPMHU) agreed to “one-time” early retirement agreement. NPMHU members
would receive $15,000 to leave service.27 About 45,000 NPMHU employees
were eligible for the incentive.28 As of November 2012, less than 3,000 had
accepted the offer.29
At the time of the writing of this report, the USPS had not stated whether it would utilize
additional separation incentives to reduce its workforce.30 However, further USPS workforce
reductions would be required if the USPS wants to achieve its goal of 155,000 position reductions
by 2016.31

22 Sean Reilly, “26,500 Postal Clerks, Drivers Take Buyout,” Federal Times, January 9, 2013, at
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20130109/DEPARTMENTS02/301090003/26-500-postal-clerks-drivers-take-
buyout.
23 U.S. Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, “Memorandum of Understanding Between the U.S.
Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, re: One-time Retirement Incentive,” September 28, 2012, at
http://www.apwu.org/news/nsb/2012/nsb20-2012-Incentive-Agreement.pdf.
24 Sean Reilly, “Postal Service Gets Anemic Response to EAS Early Retirement Offer,” Federal Times, November 27,
2012, at http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-times-blog/2012/11/27/postal-service-gets-anemic-response-to-eas-early-
retirement-offer/.
25 Sean Reilly, “4,100 Postmasters Take Buyouts, Early Outs,” Federal Times, August 8, 2012, at
http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120809/DEPARTMENTS02/308090002/4-100-postmasters-take-buyouts-early-
outs.
26 U.S. Postal Service, 2012 Report on Form 10-K, p. 49.
27 U.S. Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, “Memorandum of Understanding Between the
United States Postal Service and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union: One-time Retirement Incentive,” May 22,
2012, at http://www.npmhu.org/media/news/body/Signed-VERA-MOU-05222012.pdf.
28 Sean Reilly, “Postal Service Offers Buyouts to 45,000 Employees,” Federal Times, May 25, 2012, at
http://www.federaltimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012305250002.
29 U.S. Postal Service, 2012 Report on Form 10-K, p. 49.
30 The Postmaster General made no mention of additional retirement offers in his recent congressional testimony,
though he stated that USPS’s goal is to reduce its career workforce to 400,000 employees through attrition. See Patrick
R. Donahoe, Postmaster General, U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Congress, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, Solutions to the Crisis Facing the U.S. Postal Service, hearing, 113th Cong., 1st sess., February 13,
2013, p. 3, at http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/?id=1965eb5f-4867-4e8c-9749-01b6d65fc2a6.
31 U.S. Postal Service, Quarter II, 2012 Report on Form 10-Q, p. 39.
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Appendix. Brief Descriptions of USPS
Employment Categories32
Career Employees
Headquarters: Includes persons who work in a variety of capacities at the two central offices of
the U.S. Postal Service, which are located in Washington, DC, and Rosslyn, VA.
Headquarters—Related Field Units: Includes persons in offices administered from USPS’s
headquarters, but who are located elsewhere.
Inspection Service—Field: Includes persons who work for the Postal Inspection Service, which
protects USPS property and employees and investigates alleged misuse of the mails for criminal
purposes.
Inspector General: Includes persons who work for the USPS Office of Inspector General, which
audits and investigates USPS activities.
Area Offices Personnel: Includes persons who work in the USPS administrative units that
oversee postal operations in USPS’s nine geographic areas throughout the United States.
Regional Offices: Included persons in the administrative unit that oversaw USPS operations
within geographic regions. Regional offices were replaced with area offices.
Postmasters/Installation Heads: Includes persons who serve as managers of retail postal
facilities.
Supervisors/Managers: Includes persons who supervise other persons or who manage programs
or processes.
Professional Administrative and Technical Personnel: Includes persons performing
administrative assistance and technical support duties.
Clerks: Includes persons who work directly with the public in USPS retail facilities and who
manually sort mail.
Nurses: Includes persons who work in USPS medical units and attend to injured employees.
Mail Handlers: Includes persons who move mail containers in mail processing centers.
City Delivery Carriers: Includes persons who deliver mail in urban and non-rural areas.
Motor Vehicle Operators: Includes persons who drive mail trucks.

32 Unless otherwise noted, these employment categories are those used by USPS in its Annual Report and were
composed by the author of this report in consultation with USPS.
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Rural Delivery Carriers—Full-time: Includes persons who deliver mail in non-urban areas.
Special Delivery Messengers: Discontinued position that employed persons to make deliveries
that required expedited delivery.
Building and Equipment Maintenance Personnel: Includes persons who maintain and repair
USPS facilities.
Vehicle Maintenance Personnel: Includes persons who perform preventive maintenance and
repair of USPS vehicles.
Non-Career Employees
Casuals: Includes persons hired temporarily to assist USPS career employees in mail processing
facilities.
Postal Support Employees: Time-limited position created in 2011 that provides the USPS with
flexibility in the hiring within the clerk craft and the maintenance and motor vehicle craft.
Pursuant to a bargaining agreement, Postal Support Employees are entitled to certain employees
benefits such as raises, health benefits, and leave.33
Non-bargaining Temporary: Includes persons hired temporarily to perform administrative
duties in USPS offices.
Rural Subs/RCA/RCR/AUX: Includes rural substitute carriers, rural carrier associates, rural
carrier relief carriers, and auxiliary carriers, all of whom provide temporary assistance to USPS in
the delivery of mail in non-urban areas.
Postmaster Relief/Leave Replacements: Includes persons who serve temporarily as managers
of retail postal facilities.
Transitional Employees: Includes persons who staff USPS’s Remote Encoding Centers (RECs),
which provide assistance concerning mail processing machines.34


33 The definition for Postal Support Employees was created by CRS using U.S. Postal Service, “Postal Service
Establishes New Position,” press release, June 8, 2011, at http://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/fl/2011/
fl_2011_0610.htm.
34 If a mail processing machine cannot read an address, it makes an electronic image of the mail piece and transmits the
image to a computer at an REC. There an employee attempts to determine the correct address for the mail piece so that
it may be reentered into the mail processing stream.
Congressional Research Service
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U.S. Postal Service Workforce Size and Employment Categories, FY1987-FY2012

Author Contact Information

Meredith A. Levine

Analyst in Government Organization and
Management
mlevine@crs.loc.gov, 7-8417


Congressional Research Service
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