TNT Post provides more clarity on effects of cost-saving initiatives

Today TNT Post provided more clarity to its employees of the effect on jobs of the measures the company will be taking to safeguard its success in the longer term in a postal market that is experiencing declining volumes and increasing competition. The company hopes that it can avoid large-scale involuntary redundancies by complementing its operational efficiency measures with changes to employment conditions and benefits to bring these in line with the market.

TNT Post does not believe that operational efficiency measures alone will be sufficient to achieve the cost savings of 300 million euros that were announced on 4 December 2006. This would result in 11,000 employees losing their jobs between 2007 and 2010. Because natural attrition and job mobility programmes would be insufficient to absorb this level of job loss, large-scale involuntary redundancies would be the inevitable result. TNT Post does not see this as socially preferable.

TNT Post has opted for an alternative in which operational efficiency measures will be combined with changes to the employment package and additional incentives to encourage employees to leave the company.

In this approach, employee wages will be, at best, frozen at the present level for the next two and a half years. In addition, other conditions of employment will have to be brought more in line with the market. With these measures the company believes it can limit the loss to between 6,500 and 7,000 jobs, most of which can be absorbed by natural attrition and assisted reemployment. TNT Post emphasises however that unfortunately it may not be possible to avoid involuntary redundancies.

TNT Post will continue to work out the measures in more detail in the course of 2007 and discuss these during that time with the works councils and trade unions. The company plans to start implementing the measures at the end of the year and expects to achieve the first cost savings in 2008