Swiss Post handles more than 200 million parcels in a single year
Swiss Post staff processed 202.1 million parcels in 2021, which is a new record in the company’s history.
Compared with the previous year, it represents a 9.6 percent increase in parcel volumes. The downward trend in letter mail continued in 2021, with mail carriers delivering 1,811 million addressed letters last year, 3.3 percent fewer letters than in the previous year. Swiss Post created 809 additional full-time jobs in its logistics unit over the course of 2021. It is thanks to the huge commitment of all staff that the company has managed to maintain its services in these challenging pandemic times.
Parcel volumes continued to rise in the second year of the pandemic. This sharp rise is due to the boom in online retail, which has been driven in part by Covid restrictions and working from home. In 2021, 202.1 million parcels were sorted by Swiss Post staff at sorting centers and delivered throughout Switzerland and abroad. This represents a 9.6 percent rise in parcel volumes compared with the first year of the pandemic (2020: 184.4 million parcels) and a sharp increase of around 35 percent on 2019. This is the first time in Swiss Post’s history that it has processed more than 200 million parcels within a single year − an achievement that was only possible thanks to long-term planning and the tireless commitment of Swiss Post staff throughout Switzerland.
Letter volumes continue to fall
Although the number of letters sent has been falling for years, Swiss Post mail carriers continued to process an impressive volume of addressed letters in 2021, with a total of 1,811 million across the year. This represents a 3.3 percent decline in letter mail year-on-year (2020: 1.873 billion). Over the last ten years, letter volumes have decreased by around 30 percent.
809 additional full-time jobs created in 2021
2021 saw more parcels and fewer letters. These developments vindicate Swiss Post’s decision to merge the organization of letter and parcel processing at Swiss Post at the start of 2021. Combining the letter and parcel businesses into one logistics unit has secured jobs and also guarantees flexibility in exceptional times, with up to 200,000 small parcels sorted in Swiss Post’s letter centers every day last year. Letter mail carriers now deliver around a half of all parcels. Swiss Post was also able to create 809 new full-time jobs in the merged logistics unit last year alone, while offering staff in the new unit more varied prospects.
Swiss Post to invest around 1.5 billion francs in its infrastructure by 2030
Swiss Post expects the upward trend in parcel volumes to continue in the future. Accordingly, the company is making further investments in its logistics, with the goal of doubling sorting capacity by 2030. Specifically, Swiss Post will invest around 1.5 billion francs in its sorting and delivery infrastructure by 2030. This will include expanding and modernizing the existing centers, while also building additional regional parcel centers. These investments will enable Swiss Post to secure existing jobs and create an estimated 1,500 new positions by 2030.
