Help wanted at Lewiston Post Office

Residents expect to receive their mail at the usual time every day, and the Lewiston Post Office is recruiting more workers to make sure there is enough staff to deliver thousands of those envelopes and packages each week on time and on schedule.

The post office held a job fair Friday so prospective employees can begin the process of applying. The job fair continues 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at the 1613 Idaho St. location.

Orofino Postmaster Kevin Richards was there to assist the job fair and said the post office is hoping to get as many applicants as it can.

He has worked for the post office for 15 years and this is the first U.S. Postal Service job fair in Lewiston that he can remember.

Richards said there has been employee turnover in the greater Lewiston area, with many staff members retiring. The USPS nationally has also been affected by the labor shortage that many industries are struggling through during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, career employees have been asked to fill in and do extra work. Many residents of the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley have noticed delays in their mail delivery, or service at odd hours.

“That’s why customers may see carriers out late at night,” he said

The USPS has focused recruiting efforts on Idaho, with job fairs in places like Boise and Post Falls, Richards said.

On Friday afternoon, Richards said he was pleased with the turnout he saw at the job fair. He said the post office is interested in filling many positions including carriers, office clerks and those who can deliver Amazon packages on Sundays.

“It’s a pretty demanding job,” he said.

It requires some people to walk 6-7 miles each day delivering mail, or drive 60-70 miles each day delivering to rural homes, Richards said. But it also comes with competitive pay and benefits.

“It’s a good place to work,” he said.

Connie Buxton-Boulet, of Lewiston, said she wanted to apply in part because of those wages and benefits.

She also would like a job that gets her out in the community, provides her exercise, allows her to meet people and get familiar with areas of the city she has not been to.

“I think everyone dreams of working at the post office, I guess,” she said.

On Friday, she let USPS take her fingerprints and was ready to go home and finish the application process.

“Hopefully, it will pay off,” she said.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.