Take mail carrier, one of the jobs most impacted by technology and among the most endangered.
Mail carrier finished No. 200 out of 200 careers examined in the CareerCast 2014 Jobs Rated report for projected growth outlook, with an expected decline of 28% by 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Of course, a shrinking market for newcomers to a profession doesn’t diminish its quality for those already working in the field. For example, when the U.S. Post Service reached its $15 billion borrowing limit in late 2012, the National Association of Letter Carriers issued a statement pointing out their $25 billion surplus in pension funds. That’s great for current mail carriers, but the profession is rapidly contracting for postman wannabes.
Mail carrier is just one casualty of a tech-based job market that shares a unifying theme: paper.
The proliferation of online communication and immediate accessibility have profoundly impacted postal services. As our society gains more and easier access to web connectivity, the decline in postal jobs over the coming decade is expected to be severe.
“Employment will be adversely affected by the decline in first-class mail volume due to increasing use of automated bill pay and email,” the BLS reports.
they just want to hire less for less that’s all
Letter carriers will be the least affected because the USPS hasn’t figured out a way to replace us with drones, although they, along with the help of the NALC come close with CCA’s, many of whom run like automatons slinging mail hither and yon with no interest in accuracy or dependability. That’s what management teaches them, too. The new “academy” has managers telling new hirees not to pay attention to names, only numbers and streets if they have to. Plus, they do not encourage reading pink cards (change of address cards for those not in the PO), claiming the DPS (Delivery Point Sequence) is so wonderful it will sort out all the mail that needs forwarded. That is a bald faced lie. DPS has tons of pieces that are not in route order, belong somewhere else in the city or out of town completely.
But while the ranks will inevitably thin, parcel business is doing quite well. What we’ll see is a shift in emphasis, where letter mail is already mainly bills, circulars and political mailings. Plain old letter correspondence is only between the incarcerated and senior citizens, plus a few folk who still understand a real card or a hand written letter says so much more because it shows thought and effort, not a click with a stupid emoticon. Nonetheless, a robot can’t do this work and it’s doubtful unless street delivery in the future is eliminated completely that anybody but real people will carry mail.
For clerks and mail handlers, the future is grim. If I were young enough and had the time to wait, I’d give very serious thought to putting in for carrier craft if it were me. It is the most stable craft and the least likely to see massive layoffs.
This would be all because of the Ruling Class is killing the jobs by taking the money. USPS is in the same business as FedEx and UPS and their doing fine!