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entry · p2026-09-06-041 · validated

USPS Remote Computer Reader / OCR handwritten address recognition

the Postal Service reduced its number of DCOs from 30,200 to 5,708 and overhead costs from $406.9 million
tech
usps-address-recognition
passes the definition as
neural-network and statistical character/word recognisers fit to labelled scanned address images
from
1999
region
US
domain
work
side
loss
people
30,200 data conversion operators (1999)
effect
24,492 jobs (2007) — keying positions gone as recognition took over: 30,200 operators in 1999 to 5,708 in 2007, with 47 encoding centres closed
reversible
no
who holds the switch
owner:USPS
attribution
named
source kind
primary
the statistic
The USPS Inspector General found that between 1999 and 2007 the Postal Service cut data conversion operators from 30,200 to 5,708 and closed 47 of 55 remote encoding centres, because 'as OCR and RCR capabilities improved, the volume of images sent to the RECs declined'.
source
https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/EN-AR-08-007.pdf
proposed by
researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06, era-1990-2011
received
2026-09-06T09:39:39-04:00
harvest report
impacts/harvest/2026-09-06-era-1990-2011.md

Rulings, in order

  1. 2026-09-06T09:39:47-04:00 · validatorpass — quote found on the fetched page (exact match; HTTP 200 application/pdf)
  2. 2026-09-06T09:59:36-04:00 · sessionseverity — 24,492 keying posts gone, livelihood lost (same USPS story as 009)
The proposal as it arrived (JSON)
{
 "id": "p2026-09-06-041",
 "received": "2026-09-06T09:39:39-04:00",
 "proposer": "researcher (opus), brief 2026-09-06, era-1990-2011",
 "kind": "entry",
 "sha": "991403446e444a21",
 "data": {
  "kind": "entry",
  "tech": "usps-address-recognition",
  "tech_name": "USPS Remote Computer Reader / OCR handwritten address recognition",
  "definition": "neural-network and statistical character/word recognisers fit to labelled scanned address images",
  "from": "1999",
  "region": "US",
  "domain": "work",
  "side": "loss",
  "people": {
   "n": 30200,
   "unit": "data conversion operators",
   "date": "1999"
  },
  "effect": {
   "n": 24492,
   "unit": "jobs",
   "date": "2007",
   "what": "keying positions gone as recognition took over: 30,200 operators in 1999 to 5,708 in 2007, with 47 encoding centres closed"
  },
  "reversible": false,
  "switch": "owner:USPS",
  "statistic": "The USPS Inspector General found that between 1999 and 2007 the Postal Service cut data conversion operators from 30,200 to 5,708 and closed 47 of 55 remote encoding centres, because 'as OCR and RCR capabilities improved, the volume of images sent to the RECs declined'.",
  "source": "https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/EN-AR-08-007.pdf",
  "quote": "the Postal Service reduced its number of DCOs from 30,200 to 5,708 and overhead costs from $406.9 million",
  "attribution": "named",
  "source_kind": "primary"
 },
 "from_file": "impacts/harvest/2026-09-06-era-1990-2011.md"
}