2/19/2016 According to documents submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC):

The Postal Service stated its FY 2015 performance target for average annual turnover rate of non-career employees was 20 per cent, and its FY 2015 performance target for average annual turnover rate of external hires was 4.5 per cent. However, the average annual turnover rate of non-career employees for FY 2015 was 38.69 per cent. Of the 223 career external hires during FY2015, 24 (or 10.76 per cent) are no longer employed with the Postal Service.

The Postal Service stated its FY 2014 average annual turnover rate for non-career employees was 45 per cent. The average annual turnover rate of external hires was 3.0 percent.

USPS’ FY2016 performance target for average annual turnover rates for non-career hires is 34.8 per cent. No targets have been established for FY 2016 because the number of career (external) hires is significantly smaller in comparison to non-career and conversions. Tracking this metric does not impact the overall turnover concerns. However, while career turnover is low compared to non-career turnover, it is still a concern. The Postal Service is taking actions, such as exit interviews, to understand the reasons for career turnover. (note: how about hard work, low wages)

The average postal career in FY2014 was 15.3 years and in FY2015 it was a little over 18 years.

Deadtree Edition: The Postal Service states that in FY 2015, it “hired more than 117,000 non-career employees in all flexible workforce categories, including postal support employee (PSE), city carrier assistant (CCA), mail handler assistant (MHA), rural carrier associate (RCA), casual and Postmaster relief (PMR).” The Postal Service also notes that it “participated in career events to recruit for targeted positions where there’s a major hiring need, such as operations industrial engineers (OIEs), CCAs, PSEs and MHAs.” note: FY2014 USPS hired more than 80,000 non-career employees.

Only a portion of the 117,000 are reflected in the End of Year totals because some of them (approximately 52,000) separated before the end of the year. This is not surprising, as almost 22,000 of the non-career hires were specifically hired into positions during the peak mailing season for short term periods. The remainder of the 117,000 non-career hires are reflected in the EOY tables. Approximately 5,000 were converted to career positions (and thus are counted within the approximately 492,000 EOY career employees), and approximately 60,000 were still active as non-career (and thus are counted within the approximate 130,000 EOY non-career employees). Employee turnover has a major impact on continued non-career hiring.

The Postal Service still has a continued need to hire 125,000 non-career employees in FY16 to maintain the appropriate levels. Continued hiring of non-career employees (including PSEs and MHAs) is necessitated by conversions to career positions and current attrition rates.

Recruiting for City Carrier Assistants (CCAs) is a challenge in some regions due the physical nature of the position and extreme outdoor environments, as well as local economic conditions.

PRC notes in its Analysis of USPS’s FY 2014 Program Performance:

the Postal Service contends that it will benefit from a fully-trained non-career workforce to supplement career employees. Yet many non-career employees who resigned in FY 2014 did so for “personal reasons” such as life situations that the Postal Service was not able to accommodate. If this trend continues, non-career employee resignations could continue to limit the Postal Service’s ability to sustain a fully-trained non-career workforce to supplement its career workforce and thereby improve service performance.

So the question that needs to be asked “Why does USPS continue pushing for an increased non-career workforce?”