“36 years” I think is the average Postman’s seneority, which is why you can be a trucker there for 20 years, and not get anywhere near first dibs at the cushy 318s to pick into at re-sign time.
It is also one of the reasons I left when I did as well… nearly 23 years altogether, and only 31 on the seniority list! (about 12-16 duties were considered “cushy”, spread among earlies, lates, and nights.)
When the MTSF package got rolled out, the senior drivers passed it by though - because for working 36 years on days - you got about half I was offered for 22 complete years on lates and nights.
To this day, I consider myself lucky to have picked up one of the ten slots going for VR. Others who had about the same seniority as myself - turned it down, and then got sacked a few months later on some other pretence… The chance to grab a big pile of money - gone forever!
Beware the firm that says things like “We wish to maximise natural wastage, rather than have compulsory (or even voluntary!) redundancies…”
I intepret that as “We’d rather not pay anyone off at all if poss, but want to shed about a third of you. Expect to be sacked for things like walking on the cracks in the pavement, uttering a sexist remark within earshot of a female colleague, or looking at your Iphone on firm’s time for amusement purposes!”