Skip to main content

The US Postal Service is getting hit by Omicron after it survived the holiday season by enlisting tens of thousands of workers

By
US Postal Service employee pushes large box in warehouse while wearing Santa hat
US Postal Service workers delivered most mail on time this holiday season.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

  • USPS reported largely on-time holiday deliveries after last year's overwhelming flood of packages.
  • The Postal Service said it brought on 185,000 staffers and 112 new package-sorting machines.
  • But an Omicron wave appears to be spreading among postal workers: 8,000 are in quarantine this week.

The United States Postal Service managed to deliver mail on time this holiday season by enlisting 185,000 new workers. But now, the Omicron variant is spreading among its employees.

The USPS announced Thursday that it saw strong performance from October 1 through Christmas Eve, delivering nearly 90% of parcels on time, a 1.24% improvement over the previous quarter. USPS estimates it will deliver more than 12 billion pieces of mail by New Year's Day. 

The Postal Service attributed this year's relatively smooth holiday season to changes it made to the size of its workforce and operations. USPS added 185,000 workers since last year (including 40,000 seasonal workers), installed 112 new package-sorting machines, and added 13 million square feet of space to handle the increased volume of mail and packages. 

It's a far cry from last year, when the Postal Service was experiencing a historic volume of deliveries that led to an overflow of parcels and overworked employees. Workers reported at the time that packages were stacked so high, it was difficult to walk around, and parcels were sitting on trucks for several days waiting to be sorted. Some employees reportedly worked 80-hour weeks and were unable to take a day off between Thanksgiving and Christmas in order to keep up with the flood of packages. 

The agency was also feeling the affects of capacity limits on airlines and trucks that transported the mail, as well as higher package volumes as other carriers turned customers away. Private firms like FedEx and UPS had warned early on of limited capacity, which meant that retailers had to turn to other avenues to ship their goods — like the Postal Service, which accepts all pieces of mail presented to it. 

At the same time, USPS employees were falling ill by the thousands: The American Postal Workers Union said in December 2020 that 19,000 of the Postal Service's 644,000 workers were sick or in isolation due to the coronavirus.

Now, as the Omicron variant spreads throughout the US, Postal Service workers are once again getting sick, the union told the Associated Press' David Sharp on Friday.

Roughly 6,500 postal workers were quarantined due to COVID-19 as of Christmas Eve. This week, that number has grown to 8,000, the AP reported. 

Read the original article on Business Insider


from Business Insider https://ift.tt/31hDAEc
via IFTTT

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Instagram accidentally reinstated Pornhub’s banned account

By
After years of on-and-off temporary suspensions, Instagram permanently banned Pornhub’s account in September. Then, for a short period of time this weekend, the account was reinstated. By Tuesday, it was permanently banned again. “This was done in error,” an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. “As we’ve said previously, we permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies.” Instagram’s content guidelines prohibit  nudity and sexual solicitation . A Pornhub spokesperson told TechCrunch, though, that they believe the adult streaming platform’s account did not violate any guidelines. Instagram has not commented on the exact reasoning for the ban, or which policies the account violated. It’s worrying from a moderation perspective if a permanently banned Instagram account can accidentally get switched back on. Pornhub told TechCrunch that its account even received a notice from Instagram, stating that its ban had been a mistake (that message itse...
Post a Comment
Read more

California Gov. Newsom vetoes bill SB 1047 that aims to prevent AI disasters

By
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed bill SB 1047, which aims to prevent bad actors from using AI to cause "critical harm" to humans. The California state assembly passed the legislation by a margin of 41-9 on August 28, but several organizations including the Chamber of Commerce had urged Newsom to veto the bill . In his veto message on Sept. 29, Newsom said the bill is "well-intentioned" but "does not take into account whether an Al system is deployed in high-risk environments, involves critical decision-making or the use of sensitive data. Instead, the bill applies stringent standards to even the most basic functions - so long as a large system deploys it."  SB 1047 would have made the developers of AI models liable for adopting safety protocols that would stop catastrophic uses of their technology. That includes preventive measures such as testing and outside risk assessment, as well as an "emergency stop" that would completely shut down...
Post a Comment
Read more

If only your bike had a trunk. Oh wait, now it does.

By
Just to let you know, if you buy something featured here, Mashable might earn an affiliate commission. Biking is one of the best ways to get around, especially if you live in a city. It's quick, it's eco-friendly, and you get a bit of exercise.  If you already commute on two wheels or are thinking of starting, there's a storage device you kinda need. SEE ALSO: This bamboo keyboard combo adds a touch of tranquility to your workspace The Buca Boot is a pretty magical two-in-one hybrid: It’s a super secure storage box for your bike that works like the trunk of a car. You can lock your helmet or whatever else in it and leave it safely behind. It’s also a basket—open it up, and you can carry a bouquet of flowers and a baguette like the picturesque cyclist of your dreams.    Read more... More about Storage , Car , Bicycle , Trunk , and Cyclist from Mashable http://ift.tt/2eHNwLB via IFTTT
Post a Comment
Read more