Jobs that are projected to loose the most by 2018

[Thomas Rogers]

Les said:

Three day delivery per week would cut the workforce in half, thus saving billions of dollars.

Would it? Even if it did, at what cost? My rural carrier has a car-load of mail each and every day she delivers. If she delivered have as frequently she, and other carriers with USPS postal vehicles might very well need larger vehicles, and take more hours per shift to deliver a larger volume of mail.



Also, can the rest of the physical infrastructure allow for reductions in delivery? Can mail distribution centers store all the mail or might the increased backlog require facility upgrades (more storage)?



Just a few things to consider.



I do agree though, that the USPS is no different than any other company in that I am sure their largest expenditure, by far, is worker compensation and anything that can reduce that helps in a big way.



TJR

 

[TrainTrac]

All this theoretical discussion about how to improve the efficiency and productivity of the USPS is just that: theoretical. Things like reducing delivery to every other day/three days per week will never happen. Mainly because of what I said before about what USPS has in common with the industries listed in items 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 above. The postal worker unions aren't going to let it happen:



<A HREF="http://www.apwu.org/news/webart/2010/10-018-five-day-100304.htm">Union Rejects USPS Call For Five-Day Delivery, New Business Model</A>



<A HREF="http://www.nalc.org/news/release/pr030210.htm">Letter carriers union opposes cutback in mail service</A>

US Postal Service Plagued with Union Inefficiency, Faces Saturday Cancellations



From Christopher Prandoni on Thursday, March 4, 2010 9:37 AM



Facing projected losses of $238 billion over the next ten years, U.S. Postal Service (USPS) officials pushed to end Saturday delivery services during Congressional hearings this week. With more people switching to electronic mail, the USPS saw a 13 percent drop in volume last year, more than double any previous single year decline. Apart from cutting Saturday deliveries, the Postal Service is considering raising prices and amending delivery schedules.



As part of the Executive Branch and therefore protected from all private competition, the USPS is plagued with inefficiencies and unionization rates only a government agency could endure. The problems include:



* USPS currently employs 800,000, only 516,000 of which actually deliver or process mail

* In order to stay afloat the USPS will cut 100 million work hours, or 57,000 positions, close 6 district offices, and implement a hiring freeze

* Even with the drastic cuts described the USPS will still be $1 billion in debt

* The average USPS worker earns $83,000 per year due to bloated union contracts

* The USPS is highly unionized with over 660,000 employees members of various unions

* Members of American Postal Workers Union, the largest postal union, can begin collecting retirement checks at age 55 if they worked there for 30 years

* The USPS wastes resources: There are about 400 major mail processing facilities, far more than the USPS needs given that it has 50% excess capacity for processing first-class mail alone

* People no longer find the USPS as useful: First Class mail volume (which is protected by legal monopoly) has declined 22% from 1998 to 2007

* Americans are weary of subsidizing the broke USPS with 50% saying they would rather cut services (only deliver mail five days a week) than bail them out





<A HREF="http://www.atr.org/postal-service-plagued-union-inefficiency-faces-a4588">http://www.atr.org/postal-service-plagued-union-inefficiency-faces-a4588</A>

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TrainTrac,



Good thing the members of the postal delivery union don't have to compete on a level playing field with their private competitors. The fact that they don't have to gives them the luxury of rejecting cost-cutting proposals like that with much less fear for losing their jobs.



Government subsidized, unionized employees...the best of both worlds. Less need to compete; can't be forced to compete.



TJR

 

[Richard L]

Remember what happened to the auto unions. They had to reduce their cost/benifits/hours or they were going to loose their jobe...And they are just as much the cause of the bankrupcies of GM and Chrysler as is the Corporate managers.



The only solution I see for USPS to survive is to drastically increase postal rates and eliminate the cheap Bulk/Junk mail rates. They may enven have to charge higher rates based on distances and differnet zones in the US. Local mail gets a cheaper rate and the further the mail has to travel the more it costs.



The problem the post office has always had is the huge volume of mail the process every day. Then they compound that problem by bogging down their system with cheap junk mail at rediculously low rates, to deliver unwanted, unnecessary paper that just goes into the trash in most cases...and ultimately ends up in landfills, etc. I am not a tree-hugger, but I think anyone can see that people and businesses need to pay a fair price for the service they get.



...Rich

 

[TrainTrac]

5. Printing and related jobs: Projected to lose 16 percent of its 594,000 jobs.



7. Newspaper publishers: Projected to lose 24.8 percent of its 326,000 jobs.

Here's one big reason why 5 and 7 are losing jobs:

US advertisers to spend more on digital than print: study



Mar 8 02:44 PM US/Eastern



US companies will spend more this year on digital and online advertising and marketing than on print for the first time ever, according to a study released on Monday.



Companies will spend 119.6 billion dollars on online and digital strategies and 111.5 billion dollars on newspaper and magazine advertisements and other print campaigns, according to the study by California-based Outsell.



Outsell, which provides research and advisory services to the publishing and information industries, described the spending shift as "an industry milestone crossover event."



It said overall US spending on advertising and marketing will increase by 1.2 percent in 2010 to 368 billion dollars.



Outsell said 63 billion dollars, or 52.8 percent of total online advertising spending by companies, would be on their own websites, which it said constitutes a "powerful form of direct to customer marketing."



"Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding," Outsell vice president and lead analyst Chuck Richard said.



"As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they're spreading their spending over a widening set of options," he said.



By category, Outsell said spending on print newspaper advertising was expected to drop 8.2 percent to 27 billion dollars while print magazine advertising will rise 1.9 percent this year to 9.4 billion dollars.



US newspapers and magazines have been facing declining print advertising revenue, falling circulation and the migration of readers to free news online.



Outsell said that spending on direct mail marketing campaigns would rise 2.7 percent to 24.4 billion dollars and spending on custom print publications would be 3.0 percent higher at 19.3 billion dollars.



Spending on print directories would fall 8.3 percent to 11.6 billion dollars while spending on print newsletters would be flat at 11.4 billion dollars.



"2010 will not suddenly erase the painful memory of crumbling ad spending in 2009, but it will provide much closer to a flat year for several of the traditional media types," Outsell said.



"This means that publishers with significant shares of traditional media in the mix and who pounded their expenses and debt into shape sufficient to survive the brutal 2009 should be able to carry on at those levels in 2010."



Spending on television advertising was forecast to drop 6.5 percent to 59.6 billion dollars.



Outsell surveyed more than 1,000 US advertisers in December 2009 for its annual "Marketing and Advertising Study 2010."