Royal Mail to cut thousands of jobs

Thousands of jobs are to be lost at Royal Mail depots and sorting offices, affecting virtually every town across the country.

Royal Mail has ordered managers to cut 10 per cent from their office and staff costs.

The organisation is one of the country’s biggest employers, with 190,000 workers. Around 50,000 jobs have gone at the organisation since 2002.
One union source told The Daily Telegraph that managers had been told to make the cuts in “office based and people cost saving”. The source said: “It is going to be thousands.”

Unions have feared substantial job losses since Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, announced plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail late last year.
Royal Mail sources said that letters had been sent to workers asking if for their preference if would like to work part-time, take voluntary redundancy or work elsewhere at the business.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail has made absolutely no annoucement of job losses but we want to work with our people so that we take into account their wishes and preferences as Royal Mail continues to modernise and transform its operations to meet the challenges of falling mail volumes and intensifying competition, especially from email and the web as broadband use expands.”