Royal Mail intends to cut 2,500 head office and other supporting roles by the end of 2027, as the postal operator contends with competition and shrinking demand for letter deliveries.
The reduction amounts to roughly 2% of the company’s 131,000-strong workforce. Frontline postal workers — posties and drivers — fall outside the proposed restructuring, Royal Mail said.
The company said the job losses, designed to improve efficiency, would be delivered through voluntary redundancies and employees choosing to leave.
“These proposed changes remove duplication and allow us to invest further in the service we deliver for our customers,” chief executive Alistair Cochrane said.
He added that the cuts “will not be easy, but they are an important part of building a stronger, simpler and future-ready Royal Mail for our customers and colleagues”.
Royal Mail said it has entered formal consultation with its unions, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite CMA.
Union response
The CWU said that despite reassurances there would be no compulsory redundancies, the announcement was “further evidence of a company that is demoralising staff and failing to deliver for customers and the wider community”.
“We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution,” deputy general secretary Martin Walsh told the BBC.
Unite said Royal Mail, regulator Ofcom and the government had “failed to address the serious problems facing Royal Mail, especially high competition from gig economy postal services”. The union added that the cuts would not improve Royal Mail’s quality of service.
Delivery performance
Royal Mail has been struggling to meet its delivery targets for first and second class post and has been fined by the regulator for missing those targets in recent years.
In the year to the end of March, just over 75% of first class letters were delivered on time, well below the 93% target.
Fewer people are sending letters, and the company has repeatedly said its Universal Service Obligation (USO) — the legal requirement to deliver letters six days a week to every address in the UK — is outdated and needs reform.
Royal Mail, which is separate from the Post Office, has faced years of criticism from politicians and the public over slow letter deliveries.
In March, postal workers across the UK told the BBC they were being asked to move or hide mail from senior bosses to make it look as though delivery targets were being met.
More than 100 MPs have written this year to Ofcom and the business secretary asking for action over the poor service their constituents say they are receiving.
The firm has said it is investing £500m over the next five years as part of its improvement plan.
Ownership
Royal Mail is owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group, after his takeover was approved by shareholders at the end of April last year.
Kretinsky has previously said he will not walk away from the requirement to deliver letters throughout the UK six days a week, as long as he is running the service.
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