Itella to restructure sorting operations in face of decline

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Itella to restructure sorting operations in face of mail volume decline

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Itella is starting negotiations with its work force next week regarding plans to restructure its mail sorting operations.

The Finnish national postal operator is rearranging its mail sorting operations to respond to the declining volume of its mail services.

Letters, magazines and advertising mail volume is projected to drop by 50% by 2020 as society continues to digitalise its communications, and with package volumes growing thanks to e-commerce, Itella said yesterday it needs to modernise its sorting infrastructure.

The main changes are expected to come at the Jyväskylä mail centre in central Finland and the Seinäjoki mail centre in western Finland.

Itella, which has about 2,500 staff involved in sorting operations, said it was not expecting many job losses, in the region of 50 among the two mail centres. The exact number will depend on negotiations with employee representatives.

Jukka Sauramäki, the regional manager of operations, said: “We have already made changes to our mail delivery operations, now they have to be made in sorting. Mail volume is reducing dramatically, but in adjusting operations we can also ensure we have high quality and sustainable services in the future.”

Negotiations begin 11 August and are expected to conclude by the end of September, involving staff at mail centres in Helsinki, Tampere, Kuopio, Oulu and Turku as well as Jyväskylä and Seinäjoki. However, the company believes it can achieve the necessary restructuring without layoffs other than in Jyväskylä and Seinäjoki.

Itella said the changes will have no impact on its other services, such as mail delivery, retail points, customer services, package services, transportation or warehousing.

Support

The Finnish postal operator launched an employee support programme back in January designed to help staff interested in changing careers, retraining or starting up their own businesses.

The programme has helped 750 employees from various parts of the company so far.

“The programme allows for the necessary personnel functions to be achieved in a new way, without layoffs,” Sauramäki explained. “We want to act responsibly and support staff in finding new paths to a career after Itella.”