Job cuts to be carried out through natural attrition and voluntary redundancies
Royal Mail is planning to cut 2,500 roles by the end of 2027 as part of the postal service's measures to improve efficiency and reduce duplication.
Affected positions include head office and other supporting roles, the BBC reported. Frontline postal workers, such as posties and drivers, will not be impacted.
Alistair Cochrane, chief executive of the United Kingdom-based agency, said the proposed changes "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," Cochrane said as quoted by the BBC.
The cuts, which represent about two per cent of the postal service's 131,000-strong workforce, will be handled through voluntary redundancies and natural attrition.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the proposed changes at Royal Mail will impact approximately 200 CWU-represented jobs in administration and revenue protection.
"We will be meeting management to discuss this announcement, which is further evidence of a company that is demoralising staff and failing to deliver for customers and the wider community," CWU deputy general secretary (postal) Martin Walsh said in a statement.
"We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution."
'Inaction' blamed for job cuts
Royal Mail said the proposed cuts seek to make the organisation more efficient, the BBC reported.
"These proposed changes remove duplication and allow us to invest further in the service we deliver for our customers," Cochrane said.
But the Unite union blamed the job losses on "years of inaction" from the UK government and its regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
"Unite CMA has been warning for some considerable time that unless the government and Ofcom address the serious challenges facing Royal Mail, further jobs will be put at risk," said Unite general secretary Sharon Graham.
"This is not good for employees or customers. It will not improve quality of service and the workforce must not be made the scapegoats for poor decisions made by the company, government, or Ofcom."
The job cuts come in the wake of a declining volume of letter deliveries, which have dropped by more than 70% since their peak in the mid-2000s, The Guardian reported.
Unite told Royal Mail that it must review the regulatory framework governing the postal industry, underscoring the need to modernise the postal service, tackle the gig economy and create a level playing field in the delivery sector.
"Without urgent action, this will happen again. More jobs will be lost, employment standards will continue to fall and customers will continue to be let down. The answer cannot simply be another round of job cuts," Graham added.
