The U.S. Postal Service cut 50 full-time employees from OU’s staff Monday, a 28 percent decrease.

Cuts were given to instructors and technical staff at the National Center for Employee Development of University Outreach, said Richard Little, the associate vice president of University Outreach. The U.S. Postal Service primarily made this decision, and OU was forced to terminate several contracts from the Norman-based training location.

OU has been administering contracts to employees at the center for over 22 years, and this is the largest number of cuts in one decision, Little said in a press release. OU was notified two weeks ago about the need for cuts and administered notifications that Monday would be the last day for cut employees.

Prior to Monday, OU employed 180 full-time support staff and instructors. This cut comes at the heel of a 46 percent drop in national revenue for the postal service last year, according to a press release.

“This is an extremely unfortunate and untimely situation driven by the significant reduction in training demands of the U.S. Postal Service,” Little said in a news release.

The cuts should not affect mail delivery in Norman, as most positions were training jobs, Little said.

University Outreach will extend help to those who were let go by helping with resume writing and offering technical seminars to assist those displaced by the cuts, Little said.

The cut at OU is expected to save $2.6 million annually for the Postal Service, which is facing a $14.1 billion deficit for 2012, according to a press release.