The Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s July 2026 report, “Options for Addressing the U.S. Postal Service’s Financial Gap,” lays out 15 possible strategies to close USPS’s massive financial shortfall. While framed as a neutral menu of options rather than recommendations, several of these proposals would directly affect Mail Handlers’ jobs, pay, benefits, and union rights.
Maintaining Service Standards But Increasing Revenue
One set of options outlined in the OIG’s report is that the Postal Service continues to provide the current array of services and address the financial issues through more flexibility in the ability to increase prices and through government funding.
Layoffs and Headcount Reduction
One of the report’s “Restructure the Workforce” options directly targets headcount. The OIG estimates that a 10% workforce reduction—through hiring freezes, voluntary early retirement (VERA), reduction-in-force (RIF), or layoffs where contractually permitted—could save $5.6 billion annually.
Pre-Career Employee Conversions
A related proposal would end the automatic conversion of MHAs and other pre-career employees (who receive lower pay and fewer benefits) to career status.
Outsourcing Operations
Outsourcing mail processing and transportation could save $1.3 billion, according to OIG, by shifting work to private-sector companies by paying lower OIG believes that this would eliminate the need for “a large complement of mail handlers, processing clerks, and Postal Vehicle Service personnel.”
The Bigger Picture
Critically, most of these changes require either congressional legislation or union negotiation—they cannot happening unilaterally. But the report signals that labor costs, which make up 76% of USPS’s total expenses, are a central target in any plan to close the Postal Service’s financial gap, making continued union engagement in these debates essential.
