Australia Post set to announce job cuts in Melbourne
Australia Post is expected to announce hundreds of job losses later this week as it continues efforts to modernise and streamline operations. The company’s plans were leaked to the media this weekend, with reports suggesting that 900 jobs will go, mainly from operations in the Melbourne area.
The Post did not deny the reports, but issued a statement yesterday offering a brief explanation, although it said it would not issue details of the cutbacks before discussing the plans with employees affected.
Australia Post is a profitable company thanks to its parcels business, but modernisation is needed because the core letters business is loss-making, forecast to lose $350m this year.
The company announced plans last month to expand letter services to offer a two-tier delivery service, regular or priority, from next year.
Commenting on the weekend’s media reports, the company stated: “Australia Post has made it very clear that it is confronting dramatic change due to the impact of declining revenues in our letters service. Our Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Fahour has publicly stated that the losses in letters business have already overwhelmed the profits in parcels and without reform, the letters services will lose over $1bn annually in a few years.”
“Much leaner”
The company said it was already a “much leaner” organisation than it was three years ago, and that part of its modernisation programme involved shifting resources in response to customer needs.
“We will not be commenting further until the impact of these and other changes we need to make are communicated to our staff, who of course remain our top priority,” Australia Post added in the statement.
The recent Australian government audit proposed that Australia Post be privatised as part of a broader rethink on government ownership. However, the Australian government itself has ruled out the idea.
While the company as a whole made a $312m profit in the last year, the letters business lost $220m.
The letters business is expected to see volumes declining by between 8 and 11% per year as Australians shift towards electronic communications.
While efforts are made to slow the decline of the letters business, Australia Post’s Group strategy involves expanding its parcels business, a major growth area. Last month the company announced it will be adding Saturday deliveries as standard for parcels and express deliveries.
“Inevitable”
Yesterday, the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) said that change was “inevitable” for the 33,000 employees at Australia Post as a result of the declining letters business.
But, the union said the Post should give any worker being made redundant the opportunity to retrain and be redeployed within the organisation, considering the “significant” growth in areas like parcel delivery.
“It’s a terrible blow to lose jobs on this scale, but Australia Post is a big and evolving organisation and we’ll be making the case that new roles should be found for people who want to continue their service,” said Jim Metcher, the CEPU Postal and Telecommunications spokesman.
“While change is inevitable, Australia Post can afford to do the right thing by workers and communities.”
Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Warren Truss, said yesterday that Australia Post faces a “crisis in the future” in terms of its letter delivery, with e-substitution and with city mail services provided by private competitors to Australia Post.
Truss said the pressure on Australia Post’s work force could be felt more in urban areas as a result.
He told the ABC TV “Insiders” programme: “Now, I think it will be a priority to try and maintain the mail services in remote areas, in regional communities.”
