80 NZ Post staff to lose their jobs
New Zealand Post plans to lay off about 80 head-office workers in Wellington and Auckland as it strives to cut costs in its struggling postal business.
Spokeswoman Suzanne Carter said the state-owned enterprise faced continuing pressure in the domestic letters business, competition from electronic mail and the economic slowdown. “We are operating in a different environment than we used to. The economic slowdown is beginning to bite.”
The 650 affected staff, mainly in Wellington and the rest in Auckland, were told of the proposed changes last Thursday and Friday. Details will be made public on May 3, when a final decision is due.
While about 80 staff would lose their jobs, other jobs would be changed and there would be new positions, Ms Carter said. The changes would result in head-office support staff for mail processing and delivery being consolidated.
The number of domestic letters sent has been falling by an average 1 per cent a year for nearly five years, mainly because of e-mail. Large companies, including banks and Telecom, are also putting more information into a single envelope.
The fall in letter volumes has been offset by growth in unaddressed junk mail and in parcels, driven by Trade Me.
NZ Post is also spending $80 million on mail-sorting machines and technology in the next six years.
