BUDAPEST: Posti will next Tuesday begin consultative negotiations with a total of 477 employees at postal outlets with the objective of making a maximum of 380 permanent employees redundant between 2015 and 2018. The cost cuts are necessitated by a service network overhaul planned by Posti.
“Customers want to visit Posti while running other errands or shopping in malls. According to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup, more than 70 per cent of Finns want Posti outlets to have the same opening hours as shops, i.e. customers want service in the evenings and on the weekends,” Riku Kuusisto, the head of Posti’s service network, says in a press release.
Posti argues that it is no longer in a position to maintain its outlets or offer longer service hours in a cost-efficient manner. At present, it operates a total of 98 postal outlets. Kuusisto reminds that nearly 800 postal outlets – equivalent to 90 per cent of all postal outlets – already operate under corporate partners. Posti essentially follows in the footsteps of several other countries by transferring its outlets to partners: For example, the national postal services of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands only operate a few, if any, postal outlets.
