Australia Post to cut jobs as letter losses soar

MELBOURNE: Australia Post today announced a major cut in jobs with about 1,900 employees expected to be axed in the wake of $500 million losses this year due to a decline in its letter delivery service which has been hit as emails and online message services gain popularity.

About 1,900 voluntary redundancies will be offered over the next three years from metropolitan centres.

The government-owned Australia Post confirmed losses in its mail delivery business are approaching $500 million this financial year.

It was said that the volume of ordinary mail was expected to plunge by over 10 per cent.

The email and other online message services has taken losses at Australia Post to over $1.5 billion over the past five years.

"We have reached the tipping point that we have been warning about where, without reform, the business becomes unsustainable," Australia Post managing director Ahmed Fahour said.

"We welcomed the Federal Government's decision to support reform so we can manage the mail service losses, meet the changing needs of our customers and continue to invest in growing parts of our business such as parcels and trusted services," he said.

The postal service is the country's oldest, continuously operating organisation and celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2009.