An Post to axe up to 1,100 jobs as it aims to slash costs

An Post plans to shed the equivalent of 1,100 jobs over the next four years as it looks to cut costs.

It has also called for an increase in postal rates and has warned of too much competition in the Irish market.

There has been an estimated 30% fall in the volume of mail being delivered in the past five years, and An Post has said its cost-cutting plans are imperative “in order to ensure the financial viability of the universal service” over the coming years.

The company set out a three-pronged plan — job reductions, the development of new revenue streams, and “appropriate price increases” — as part of its initial response to the Commission for Communications Regulation’s draft postal strategy statement.

In its formal strategy statement, covering the next two years, ComReg yesterday said one of its priorities would be to protect the stability of the universal service provision “by considering all means to ensure appropriate incentives are in place” for efficient delivery of the service.

The regulator has asked An Post to submit an amended application for price increases.

An Post is looking for a 10c increase in the price of the average stamp, adding that “further increases will be required” over the course of its five-year financial plan. It has also pointed out that Ireland has the second lowest basic tariff of the EU15 set of nations, with all others having recently made “at least one price change”.

The further planned job cuts will bring the number of reductions made by An Post since 2008 to about 2,600.

It has also raised concerns about competition within Ireland’s postal market, saying that “a regime aimed at encouraging as many operators as possible, irrespective of their size or resources, to enter the mail market may have unintended consequences”.

“Although designed to increase the range of consumer choice, these may not regard themselves as having a longer-term commitment,” it added.

ComReg, however, has stated as one of its “high-level goals” for the next couple of years the promotion and development of the postal sector, “by facilitating competition and innovation”.

“For postal services to stay competitive as a medium of communication, postal service providers must be cost-effective, innovative, and continually aligning and realigning their postal services to postal users’ needs,” ComReg chairman Alex Chisholm said yesterday.