The 2025 VERA was one of the largest early retirement offers in recent USPS history — over 10,500 employees accepted the $15,000 incentive and left the agency. Now, with USPS facing an even deeper financial crisis, hiring a restructuring firm, and the postmaster general openly discussing workforce reductions, the question everyone’s asking is: will there be another one?
Why Another VERA Is Likely
The restructuring firm. In early March 2026, USPS hired Alvarez & Marsal — the same firm companies bring in when they need to map out all options, including service cuts and workforce reductions. This isn’t the kind of consultant you hire for minor adjustments.
The financial pressure. USPS lost $9 billion in FY2025 and $1.3 billion in Q1 2026 alone. Steiner has told Congress the agency could run out of cash as early as October 2026. Workforce costs are the single largest operating expense. Another round of voluntary separations is one of the most straightforward ways to reduce costs without resorting to involuntary layoffs.
Steiner’s own words. When asked about layoffs at the March 17 hearing, Steiner said “everything has to be on the table” and explicitly did not rule out a reduction in force. VERA is always the step before a RIF — agencies offer voluntary exits first to avoid the legal complexity and morale damage of involuntary separations.
The shift toward pre-career. Steiner told Congress that USPS is “moving toward more of those employees being pre-career rather than career.” That strategy works best when career positions are vacated through retirement, not replacement.
What the 2025 VERA Looked Like
For reference, here’s what was offered last time. The 2025 VERA included a $15,000 incentive for full-time career employees, paid in two installments: $10,000 on August 15, 2025 and $5,000 on August 28, 2026 (that second payment is still coming for those who accepted). Part-time employees received a prorated amount.
It was available to APWU and NPMHU-represented employees eligible for optional retirement or voluntary early retirement as of April 30, 2025. Employees had to indicate their intent by March 7, 2025, and the irrevocable date was the same.
Why Didn’t City Carriers (NALC) Get the 2025 VERA?
This is the most common question we get from carriers, and it’s a fair one. A carrier with 25+ years on the street watches clerks and mail handlers get offered an early retirement incentive while carriers get nothing — and the obvious question is why.
The 2025 VERA was offered only to APWU-represented clerks and NPMHU-represented mail handlers because USPS was targeting workforce reductions in the crafts tied to automation and network consolidation — not carrier-craft attrition. Mail volume shifts and processing plant consolidations under the Delivering for America plan created genuine overstaffing in the clerk and mail handler crafts. Carrier staffing, by contrast, was already being reduced through normal attrition and the ongoing slowdown in CCA-to-career conversions. From USPS’s workforce-planning perspective, there was no surplus carrier headcount to incentivize out the door.
It’s also a contract and funding question. VERA offers are negotiated with the union representing the affected craft and require specific OPM approval tied to a workforce restructuring plan. USPS built the 2025 offer around the clerk and mail handler restructuring case it was already making — a carrier VERA would have required a separate justification that didn’t exist at the time.
Could Carriers Be Included in a Future VERA?
Yes — and the conditions for it are arguably forming now. Three developments would make a carrier-craft VERA plausible:
- Alvarez & Marsal recommendations targeting delivery operations. The consulting firm USPS hired is expected to deliver recommendations by the end of FY2026. If those recommendations target route restructuring, delivery-day reduction, or delivery-network consolidation, carrier overstaffing becomes the justification a VERA needs.
- A move to five-day delivery. A formal shift from six-day to five-day delivery would immediately create surplus carrier capacity and give USPS a clear restructuring case for an NALC VERA. We covered the current state of this debate in our five-day delivery analysis.
- Contract negotiations. Any VERA offered to carriers would be negotiated through NALC (city carriers) and almost certainly NRLCA (rural carriers) in parallel. Watch the NALC contract negotiations for early retirement language — that’s usually the first visible signal.
What NALC and NRLCA Members Should Do Right Now
Whether or not a carrier VERA materializes, the preparation is the same as for any retirement decision — and carriers who are ready when an offer drops are the ones who can actually use it.
Verify your service computation date (SCD). Check your PS Form 50 or eOPF. Make sure any military service buyback is processed and credited. Every year of creditable service affects both your VERA eligibility and your annuity calculation.
Run your numbers under all four retirement paths. VERA isn’t automatically the best option — for some carriers, MRA+30 or Age 60+20 produces a higher annuity with no age reduction. Our FERS retirement guide walks through all four paths with real numbers.
Watch NALC and NRLCA bulletins. If a carrier VERA is coming, the unions will know before it’s announced publicly. Watch for language around “voluntary early retirement,” “workforce restructuring,” or “separation incentives” in contract updates.
The frustration of being left out of the 2025 offer is real — especially for carriers with the service time to qualify. The honest answer is that it wasn’t a snub; it was a staffing-math decision. The next one could go differently.
VERA Eligibility Rules
Under standard federal VERA rules, you’re eligible if you meet either of these criteria:
Age 50 with 20 years of creditable federal service, or
Any age with 25 years of creditable federal service.
These are more lenient than standard FERS retirement eligibility. You don’t need to reach your MRA. However, there’s a critical caveat: VERA does not automatically give you unreduced benefits. If you take VERA before your standard retirement eligibility (MRA+30, age 60+20, or age 62+5), your annuity may still be subject to an age reduction penalty of 5% per year under your MRA.
How to Prepare Right Now
Whether a new VERA comes in 2026 or not, here’s what you should be doing if you’re within striking distance of eligibility:
Know your numbers. What’s your FERS annuity under each retirement path? What would a VERA penalty cost you per month for the rest of your life? What’s your TSP balance and projected income? Use our retirement calculator to see all four paths side by side.
Check your service computation date. Verify your SCD on your PS Form 50 or eOPF. Make sure military service buyback is processed if applicable. Every year of creditable service matters for both eligibility and annuity calculation.
Build your sick leave balance. Unused sick leave converts to additional service time at retirement. Every 2,087 hours equals one year. Don’t burn sick leave casually if you’re within a few years of retiring.
Understand your PSHB situation. If you retire after December 31, 2024, you’re under the Postal Service Health Benefits program, which requires Medicare Part B enrollment when you turn 65. That’s about $185/month per person in 2026. Factor it into your retirement income planning.
See your FERS annuity under all four retirement paths including VERA penalty scenarios.
Open the FERS Calculator →What to Watch For
If a new VERA is coming, here are the signals to watch. Congressional action on the borrowing cap — if it passes, USPS has less urgency to cut staff. If it stalls, workforce reductions become more likely. Alvarez & Marsal’s recommendations could come as early as the end of FY2026 (September 30). Union communications — VERA offers are negotiated with the unions, so watch APWU, NALC, NPMHU, and NRLCA announcements.
We’ll update this page as soon as anything is announced. Bookmark it or check back on our blog regularly.
Sources: PMG Steiner congressional testimony (March 17, 2026), Federal News Network reporting on VERA uptake, APWU and NPMHU 2025 VERA MOUs.