Royal Mail plans up to 10,000 job cuts

Royal Mail plans up to 10,000 job cuts

Royal Mail was buoyed by strong parcel demand during the pandemic, but reported a heavy loss for the last six months
Royal Mail was buoyed by strong parcel demand during the pandemic, but reported a heavy loss for the last six months. Photo: Justin TALLIS / AFP
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

British postal operator Royal Mail on Friday unveiled plans to axe up to 10,000 jobs, blaming the move partly on ongoing staff strikes that contributed to a first-half loss.

The announcement came one day after staff staged the first of 19 walkouts targeting the critical run-up to Christmas, joining several other sectors carrying out industrial action as sky-high inflation erodes the value of wages.

Royal Mail's job cuts follow "the impact of industrial action, delays in delivering agreed productivity improvements and lower parcel volumes", its parent group said in a results statement, sending shares tanking.

"Our operational full-time employee workforce will need to reduce by an estimated 10,000 by the end of August 2023," International Distributions Services added alongside news it had plunged into the red.

Read also

Andrew Bailey: Bank of England boss facing fresh storm

The planned job losses comprise almost seven percent of Royal Mail's total workforce of 150,000 people.

The restructuring includes up to 6,000 compulsory redundancies.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

The group suffered an operating loss of £219 million ($245 million) in the six months to the end of September, it added Friday.

That contrasted sharply with profit of £235 million a year earlier, when it was buoyed by strong parcel demand during the pandemic.

"It now expects full-year losses to hit £350 million, which is the figure it had hoped to make in cost savings before the strikes erupted," noted Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The threat of further strike action beyond Christmas "means that no certainty can be given over the full year outlook for the group as a whole", she added.

Read also

Stocks dive, dollar rallies as dazed traders gird for inflation data

Royal Mail said full-year operating losses could increase to £450 million should "customers move volume away for longer periods" as a result of strike action.

The share price of International Distributions Services slumped more than 13 percent to 182 pence in London trading following the update.

Royal makeover

Set up more than 500 years ago, Royal Mail has experienced some of its most turbulent times during the past decade, particularly following its controversial privatisation in 2013.

The firm's core letters business has been ravaged as consumers increasingly go online to communicate.

Staff are planning a series of walkouts before the critical Christmas period
Staff are planning a series of walkouts before the critical Christmas period. Photo: Justin TALLIS / AFP
Source: AFP

However, it enjoyed booming demand for parcel deliveries during Britain's Covid lockdowns -- and played a vital role delivering test kits and protective clothing in the pandemic.

Yet the Covid-era boom in parcels has tailed off.

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last month, all new Royal Mail postboxes will no longer feature the EIIR royal cipher.

Read also

BoE widens action on 'UK financial stability' fears

The cipher stood for Elizabeth II Regina ("queen" in Latin).

Instead they will be imprinted with CIIIR, representing Charles III Rex ("king" in Latin). A crown will feature above both letters.

New British stamps will also feature an image of his head.

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU ➡️ find the “Recommended for you” block on the home page and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.