NZ Post is set to layoff around 750 staff over the next five years in response continuing mail decline.
The state-owned enterprise says it will soon begin consultation on reducing the number of full-time equivalent mail roles out of its workforce of 4500.
NZ Post chief executive David Walsh says the adjustment will take place gradually and customers do not need to do anything differently.
“Our focus will be on our people and supporting them with this transition,” Walsh says.
The number of mail items sent in New Zealand has reduced from over one billion mail items 20 years ago to around 220 million mail items in the current year.
NZ Post predicts this will decrease to about 120 million items by 2028 and says it needs to move toward a commercially sustainable model for mail delivery.
“Our business is evolving as New Zealanders are increasingly communicating online, and NZ Post has responded to this by making a number of changes over the last decade,” Walsh says.
“We are working to find the most efficient and cost-effective way to deliver the lower volume of mail for our customers.
“Mail will continue to be in our future, but there will be less mail. We’re now looking to the next five years and how we continue to deliver mail to New Zealanders,” Walsh says.
“Mail decline isn’t unique to New Zealand. Postal services around the globe are responding to the same changes in communication and are focusing on the challenge of maintaining a service that has high operating costs and very low usage.
“The way we deliver mail in five years will look very different and we know our future workforce won’t be the same size and shape as it is today. While we evolve, we will need to continue our ongoing operational changes, continue to reduce costs and ensure we are setting the right price for the mail service to be sustainable.
“We’re not planning any major changes to the mail service at this point in time, and we will continue to meet our obligations including in the Deed of Understanding with the Government.
“We will communicate directly with customers if there are going to be changes to the way they receive their mail. NZ Post will continue to deliver mail to New Zealanders and we will do this in a way that is both commercially and environmentally sustainable.
“The same technology that’s causing a decline in the number of letters being sent, has led to growth in online shopping. NZ Post is uniquely positioned to capture growth in eCommerce and we are continuing to invest in our parcel processing capacity,” Walsh says.
NZ Post has already made several changes over the last 10 years to its mail service, including:
- Reducing mail delivery in urban areas from six to three times a week
- Consolidating delivery branches
- Consolidating processing sites (including most recently closing the Manawatu Mail Centre) and adding further automation
- Increasing mail prices from $1.70 to $2 from 1 July 2023
