Pros
- Union job, but that's a pro and a con. I like to think it's more pro. - Fully remote - Can work a 4-10 hour work week instead of a normal 5-8hr. - Overtime is optional and any overtime worked is extra pay. - 20 days of annual leave + 13 days sick leave after 3 years. (This is about average, but I still put it as a pro) - Unlimited sick leave carry over (which if you don't use will be used to increase your years of service for when calculating your pension when you retire) - You get to chose your annual leave in the beginning of the fiscal year and if there isn't any conflict with another developer's leave, then managers can't reject it. In my experience, managers are always very lax about leave.
Cons
Pay is my biggest concern. Keep in mind my numbers are for year 2024 and I'm comparing USPS with companies of similar size and with similar pay grade levels. I'm from Minnesota. USPS does not have the worst pay, but they are below the median in mid-high cost of living areas. Pay is non-negotiable. It's a union job. Entry level pay is average, but the longer you stay here the more of gap there is. Pay is very transparent and is listed on the union website. Depending on your pay grade and step, the gap ranges anywhere between $5k to $17K when comparing with the median salaries in my area. This after considering that we get a pension. USPS caps a senior dev's salary at $119,000.00 and the median salary cap in my area is $140,000 - $150,000.00. When considering the pension that we get, the cap should really should be around $130,000.00ish to $135,000.00ish. In Minneapolis, Hennepin county caps a senior developer salary at $131,000.00 plus they get a pension. It's quite obvious we are under paid. Not to mention a pension is not free. We still have to put some money in it every pay check and this is post tax. There is no locality pay even though USPS is a nationwide organization and developers work remotely. There are some old and niche tech that we are working with which depreciated our skills and our job prospect if we want to move to a different company. The only reason making me want to work for another company/organization is the lower pay here. I'm not asking for big tech pay. I just don't want to be under paid base on the median salary in my area. USPS has been in financial trouble for some time now and sadly I do not think they will change their pay structure for developers. If there is a change, it would most likely start with the tech sector since every other sector is very old school. I don't recommend anyone to work for USPS if they are in a mid-high cost of living area. If you are a fresh grad and need a job, then ok. Might be just my team and managers, but USPS does not have great training and mentorship for entry level developers.