Cuts to post jobs and deliveries

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.”