EAGLE, Wis. — Across Wisconsin, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is looking to hire and there's a big push to hire rural mail carriers.
Those jobs have a starting pay of more than $19 per hour and offer benefits including health insurance.
To learn more about the immediate push for rural mail carriers, we spoke with Lisa Wojnarawski, a workforce planning specialist with USPS.
"I was a rural mail carrier for 27 years. I loved every minute of it," said Wojnarawski. She said delivering mail to rural Wisconsin residents was a fulfilling daily mission for more than two decades.
"You become part of that community, that family," she said.
Now she's trying to convince the next generation to take a chance and apply.
"My passion for the rural carrier craft is what prompted me to want to be a recruiter for the post office. To try and share that passion and that drive and the sense of community with new people coming into the position," said Wojnarawski.
Right now, the need for rural mail carriers in our state is urgent.
"We have a need of approximately 400 to 500 rural carrier associates throughout the state of Wisconsin," she said.
Those positions are essential.
In a statement from the National Farmers Union, a spokesperson described how much of an impact USPS, and any potential delays caused by a worker shortage, can have on residents.
"Because rural areas often lack both services like banks, pharmacies, polling places, supply stores as well as access to broadband internet and private delivery services, residents disproportionately depend on USPS to receive medication, vote, communicate with friends and family, cash checks and conduct business," the statement said.
That's why USPS is on the move. Recruiters are going directly to post offices in both rural and urban communities statewide, helping individuals with the application process.
They have positions of all types open in both rural and urban areas. The Wisconsin District's operation specialist, Terence Maney, says that means there's plenty of opportunity for you.
"There are a lot of jobs out there offering you bonuses, but they're not offering you a career, and we offer a career here," said Maney.
He says as the country prepares for the post-pandemic era, demand is high and they're looking to staff up long-term.
"We will not slow down, and we're not slowing down on hiring and we're not slowing down on providing this country with the service that it deserves," said Maney.
It's a push to fill open positions and keep America's shipments moving along amid the challenging labor shortage.
Milwaukee's Post Office, located at 345 W. St Paul Ave., is hosting a job fair every Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. through the start of 2022.
There will be a job fair held at Fond Du Lac's Post Office on Dec. 13, at the Theinsville Post Office on Dec. 14 and at the West Bend Post Office on Dec. 20.
There's also a one-day-only hiring event happening at Gee's Clippers in Milwaukee on Dec. 11.
