USPS workers may be faced with upcoming layoffs

United States Postal Service (USPS) trucks are parked at a postal facility on August 15, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Layoffs may be looming for U.S. Postal Service employees.

The National Association of Postal Supervisors, which represents 27,000 active and retired USPS workers, was informed that reductions in force, or layoffs, may be forthcoming depending on how the next phase of the agency's structure and staffing plan takes shape next month, Government Executive reported.

The USPS announced in early March it was offering voluntary early retirement to eligible non-union administrative employees as it worked to restructure the organization after a tumultuous year.

This does not apply to those who process and deliver the mail, USPS spokesperson Dave Partenheimer told FOX Business.

The offers were a way to help the agency avoid a "reduction in force." The offers, which don't include a buyout incentive, have an effective date of April 30, according to the USPS.

The offers are part of a handful of organizational changes Postmaster General Louis DeJoy first announced in August including consolidating the existing 67 Postal Service Districts into 50.

DeJoy said the organizational changes will strengthen the agency's "mission and commitment to serve the American people by improving efficiency and streamlining decision making throughout the organization."

The potential layoffs will be dependant, in part, upon how many employees decide to accept the offers.

The announcement of the service's final structure and staffing is planned for May.

Employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) are eligible for voluntary early retirement as long as they met certain specifications.

To accept the retirement offers, current employees have to be at least 50 years old and have 20 years of service or any age with 25 years of service. Employees must also have at least five years of "creditable civilian service, not military service" although "employees may use military service to meet the balance of service required for eligibility," according to the agency.

Decisions must be made by April 16.

Representatives for the National Association of Postal Supervisors did not respond to FOX Business' request for comment.

Read more at FOXBusiness.com.

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