Royal Mail cuts management roles

Around 2,000 management jobs are being axed at Royal Mail as it looks to slash costs in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

The group said the cuts come as part of a management overhaul under plans to save £330 million over the next two years.

The cull will affect some of its 9,700 managers, with senior executive and non-operational roles hardest hit.

Royal Mail is one of a raft of companies in the UK to announce hefty job losses due to the pandemic, including British Gas owner Centrica and airlines Easyjet and British Airways.

Trade union Unite said the job losses are a “devastating blow” for Royal Mail staff.

Keith Williams, interim executive chairman at Royal Mail Group, said the company is taking “immediate action” on costs to offset the Covid-19 impact.

“In recent years, our UK business has not adapted quickly enough to the changes in our marketplace of more parcels and fewer letters,” he said.

“Covid-19 has accelerated those trends, presenting additional challenges.”

On the job cuts, he said: “We are committed to conducting the upcoming consultation process carefully and sensitively.”

The job cuts will affect nearly half of Royal Mail’s senior managers, while it will see a 20 per cent reduction in management roles across office functions and 10 per cent drop in frontline operational management.

The firm aims to adopt a “phased approach” to the redundancies but all are set to take place by the end of next March.

Details of the job cuts came as the group posted a 13.6 per cent fall in underlying operating profits to £325 million for the year to 29 March. The firm said executive directors and Royal Mail executives will forgo annual bonuses for 2019-20 and no shareholder dividends will be paid for the year ahead.