Covid-19 has affected not only the lives of millions of people but has also affected almost all industries and workplaces. With millions of people dying everyday, travel restrictions, and constant fear of getting an infection, the world has come to a standstill. Since the outbreak in early 2020, numerous post offices, including United States Postal Service, China Post, Deutsche Post, Singapore Post, and Swiss Post, experiences operational challenges like never before.
United States Postal Service (USPS) is always designated as an essential service, but now it has become a victim of COVID-19. The condition is so bad that the U.S House of Representatives had to pass a $3 trillion relief package to make the USPS sustainable. Remember, the postal service does not get tax dollars for its operational expenses and relies on the sale of postages and its products or services. So, when businesses stopped sending advertisements or bulk mail, their revenue starts dwindling. The scenario makes it essential to understand how the pandemic is affecting the post office in general.
Trend of Digitization
With banks and businesses going the digital way, the postal system is now thinking about undergoing a transition to survive the pandemic and, of course, to stay relevant among a tech-savvy generation. Since the pandemic has made it clear that people now prefer to make cashless transactions and contactless payments, post offices are likely to undergo digitization. They are launching kiosks and mobile POS as digital solutions to improve the productivity of their branches. These kiosks help customers access postal services and products like they can quickly access banking services via an ATM. This transition is also helping to make the process of mail depositing simpler and safer.
Encouraging Letter Writing
The raging pandemic has proved beyond any doubt that life can be too short sometimes for expressing your emotions. Millions of people have lost their lives, and many others have undergone severe depression or radical changes in their lifestyle. The postal system is now looking for ways to encourage art among the new generation. Yes, they may not be using it as frequently as their parents because of the availability of other options such as social media, instant messaging, electronic mail, phone call. However, many of them still love the feeling of receiving and touching a handwritten letter from their distant friends or family members. They still have fond memories of accompanying their parents to post offices during childhood.
Many societies, such as the Arizona Correspondence Society, have already established to promote letter writing in the new generation. Many are even organizing letter-writing competitions to encourage young children to learn and cherish the lost art of writing letters to penpals and friends. When many people are dealing with loneliness like never before, sending them nicely written letters is indeed a feel-good act during a pandemic.
When a child engages in writing thoughtful letters for their family members, the activity reduces screen time. So, it is not only various societies or post offices that are making conscious efforts to encourage letter writing, parents and teachers worldwide are trying their best to revive this art. If even a bit of this effort proves successful, there can be some ray of hope for post offices.