Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Office and administrative support / 43-5053.00

Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Examine, sort, and route mail. Load, operate, and occasionally adjust and repair mail processing, sorting, and canceling machinery. Keep records of shipments, pouches, and sacks, and perform other duties related to mail handling within the postal service. Includes postal service mail sorters and processors employed by USPS contractors.

US jobs
105,200
Median wage
$58,470 a year
Job family
Office and administrative support

Can agents do the work of postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Office and administrative support:

  • Task levelStrongOn computer-use and office-task benchmarks, top agents pass most tasks: 90.2% on OSWorld-Verified (humans: 72.4%), 83.1% on SpreadsheetBench, and 63.3% on WorkArena L1 under the standard protocol. Limits: many top entries are self-submitted and not re-run by the maintainers, and on TheAgentCompany's multi-step workplace tasks the best agent resolves 42.9%.
  • Project levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's GDPval deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons, but GDPval tasks are one-shot and fully specified. No benchmark in our collection tests multi-day administrative work, such as running a calendar or a purchasing process.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in office and administrative support, not always this occupation's tasks.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Clear jams in sorting equipment.
  • Operate various types of equipment, such as computer scanning equipment, addressographs, mimeographs, optical character readers, and bar-code sorters.
  • Sort odd-sized mail by hand, sort mail that other workers have been unable to sort, and segregate items requiring special handling.
  • Direct items according to established routing schemes, using computer-controlled keyboards or voice-recognition equipment.
  • Check items to ensure that addresses are legible and correct, that sufficient postage has been paid or the appropriate documentation is attached, and that items are in a suitable condition for processing.
  • Bundle, label, and route sorted mail to designated areas, depending on destinations and according to established procedures and deadlines.
  • Move containers of mail, using equipment, such as forklifts and automated "trains".
  • Open and label mail containers.
  • Load and unload mail trucks, sometimes lifting containers of mail onto equipment that transports items to sorting stations.
  • Distribute incoming mail into the correct boxes or pigeonholes.
  • Rewrap soiled or broken parcels.
  • Train new workers.
Other job titles for this occupation (43)

Automation Clerk · Computer Forwarding System Markup Clerk (CFS Markup Clerk) · Distribution Clerk · Flat Sorting Machine Clerk (FSM Clerk) · Mail Handler · Mail Handler Equipment Operator · Mail Processing Clerk · Mail Processor · Parcel Post Distribution Machine Operator (PDPMO) · Small Package and Bundle Sorter Clerk (SPBS Clerk) · Assorter · Dead Mail Checker · Distribution Handler · Distributor · Equipment Operator · File Conversion Operator · Flat Sorter Operator · Flat Sorter Processor · General Expeditor · Letter Sorting Machine Operator (LSM Operator) · Mail Distribution Clerk · Mail Distribution Scheme Examiner · Mail Distributor · Mail Examiner · Mail Forwarding System Markup Clerk · Mail Handler Assistant · Mail Handler Sorter · Mail Opener · Mail Processing Agent · Mail Sorter · Mail Weigher · Mailing Section Clerk · Operations Label Clerk · Package Sorter · Post Office Markup Clerk · Postal Service Mail Processor · Postal Transportation Clerk · Presort Letter Operator · Processor · Sorter · Sorting Machine Operator · Zip Sorter · ZMT Operator (Zip Mail Translator Operator)