The Scotsman

Cuts to post jobs and deliveries

- Nick Perry

THE post will soon be delivered to most New Zealand homes just three days a week as its mail service responds to the rise of smartphone­s and the decline of letters.

Its government yesterday agreed to a steep reduction in the six-day-a -week service from 2015 following lobbying from New Zealand Post. The company said reduced delivery days will result in significan­t job losses.

From June 2015, New Zealand Post will be required to deliver mail just three days a week in urban areas and five days a week in rural areas. About 12 per cent of customers live in rural areas.

“Thirty years ago there were just telephones and letters. Then came faxes, e-mails, and smartphone­s, and they all allow people to bypass our network,” said chief executive Brian Roche. “People just don’t look at their letterbox anymore as their principal form of communicat­ion.”

Mr Roche said the service would begin losing money if not for the cutbacks. He said customers wanting daily deliveries will be able to sign up for a new courier-type service at a premium.

The company employs about 2,000 or so delivery workers. Mail volumes in the nation of 4.5 million people have dropped by a quarter in the last decade.

“Around the world postal volumes are declining,” said minister Amy Adams. “In New Zealand, this is at a rate of about 8 per cent a year.”

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