TNT to cull thousands of jobs
TNT has announced today that it will press ahead with a huge job-cutting programme. The move, strongly opposed by Dutch unions, will be pushed through as the operator looks to steady itself after seeing a major fall in volumes – prompted by e-substitution.
TNT has also suffered from increased competition due to liberalisation of the European mail market.
The company could reportedly cull 6,500 to11,000 full-time jobs. TNT currently employs around 160,000 staff. It said it will aid departing employees in finding new positions outside of TNT.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Harry Koorstra, managing director of TNT’s mail division said: “We hope that around 50% of the cuts can be made through natural attrition, but there could be forced redundancies and unions knew this.”
Earlier this year, TNT announced that it plans to separate its mail and express businesses.
Last week a Dutch newspaper reported that CVC Capital Partners had entered negotiations to acquire a ‘substantial stake’ in TNT Post. Het Financieele Dagblad cited unnamed sources when reporting CVC could be set to buy a EUR 1.5bn stake in the mail unit. However, when approached by Post&Parcel, a TNT spokesman said the company refused to comment on market speculation.
