Itella Group to begin talks, seeking 430 job cuts
Itella is set to begin negotiations next week with the aim of reducing the size of its work force. The company said today that it is expecting the equivalent of around 430 full-time jobs to go, mainly from its administrative ranks within the Helsinki area.
The final number of job losses will depend on the statutory labour negotiations, which are expected to run until late October or early November.
Itella decided last month it needed to cut its operating costs by EUR 100m over the next three years, as mail volumes “rapidly” decline.
The first half of this year saw a 13% drop in first class letter volumes, while overall addressed letter volumes dropped 1%.
The rise of the Internet is also inflicting major damage on periodicals volumes, but it is thought to be the influx of competition into the Finnish postal market – brought about by new European market liberalisation rules – that have seen the company suffering a 9% drop in unaddressed direct marketing volumes.
Issuing a statement today, Itella said it intended to use a range of methods to reduce the size of its workforce, including voluntary arrangements and early retirement.
The company insisted that the plans would not concern mail delivery or sorting, and eas expecting the staff cuts will mean “no direct impact that is visible to customers”.
Itella said: “The statutory labor negotiations concern employees in administrative positions, such as employees working at headquarters and in planning, sales and marketing, IT administration and HR administration. Most of the positions are located in the capital region.”
Labour
Itella employs about 22,000 staff in Finland, and last month stated that 430 would lose their jobs from the post center in Lappeenranta, Posti shops and Itella Customer Relationships Marketing Ltd.
Finland’s Post and Logistics Union said it was expecting “thousands” of jobs to disappear over the next few years as the result of the liberalisation of the country’s postal market.
The union said it believed the government needed to examine Itella’s top-level management structures and the costs from hiring consultants and external expertise.
It said cutting other jobs would affect service quality.
“Customers and planning supervisors are already having problems such as in mail delivery within metropolitan areas,” the union said.
