Norwegian postal service reduce staff by 880
The Norwegian postal service’s board of directors have decided to reduce its staff by 880 people as of 2004. These cuts come in addition to the 6000 man-labor years that already have been cut from the organization during the last four years.
“This is part of process to offer better quality, and a more effective organization in order to meet the competition,” said Line Fredriksen, head of information in Posten to TV 2 Nettavisen.
The number of post terminals for sorting letters and packages will be reduced from 53 to 25, and the functions will be centralized in each postal district. The company is introducing new technology for sorting which makes people redundant.
The management does not believe it will be possible to reduce the number of employees without layoffs.
“Employees will be offered a final settlement, but we can not get rid off 880 man-labor years without laying people off,” Fredriksen said.
Posten has earlier reorganized the entire organization and it has cut over 6000 labor-man years during the last four years. The labor unions have been apart of the process, and they have approved the decision to 880 man-labor years as of next year.
“We assume that 18,000 employees will be the level which we will maintain in the years to come,” Fredriksen said.
Posten Norge expects to save NOK 500 million ($71.4 million) annually on the staff reduction.
