The United States Postal Service announced Thursday it plans to move its mail processing operations in Lake Mary to the Orlando Processing and Distribution Center, near Orlando International Airport.
The decision to consolidate several processing centers comes after a five-month study USPS, said in a statement. The move is part of a larger plan aimed at reducing operating costs by $20 million by 2015 and returning the organization to profitability.
In addition to Lake Mary, two other processing facilities are slated for consolidation. These are:
- St. Petersburg P&DC to Tampa P&DC
- Lakeland P&D to Tampa P&DC
“The organization is in the midst of a financial crisis due the combined effects of the economic recession, increased use of electronic communications, and an obligation to prefund retiree health benefits,” a USPS statement said.
Since 2006, first-class mail volume has declined rapidly, leading to “an enormous amount of excess capacity…creating significant opportunity for consolidation,” the statement added.
It is not yet clear how many workers will be displaced in Lake Mary and the other locations, with the consolidation efforts.
Last November, Orlando city Commissioner Phil Diamond (District 1), raised alarm bells and warned that hundreds of jobs in Orlando could disappear if back office operations of the Orlando Processing and Distribution Center were to be consolidated into the operations in Lake Mary.
