Royal Mail plans to cut 2,500 head office and support roles by end of 2027

Royal Mail has announced plans to cut 2,500 head office and other supporting roles by the end of 2027, the BBC reported on 7 October. The company said the cuts represent about 2% of its 131,000-strong workforce. Frontline postal workers, posties and drivers, are not part of the proposed restructuring, Royal Mail said.

Royal Mail said the reduction, designed to improve efficiency, would be achieved through voluntary redundancies and people choosing to leave the company. Chief executive Alistair Cochrane said the proposed changes "remove duplication" and allow the company to invest further in the service it delivers for customers. He said the job cuts "will not be easy, but they are an important part of building a stronger, simpler and future-ready Royal Mail for our customers and colleagues".

Royal Mail said it is in formal consultation with its unions, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite CMA, over the plans. The CWU said the announcement was "further evidence of a company that is demoralising staff and failing to deliver for customers and the wider community". CWU deputy general secretary Martin Walsh told the BBC: "We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution."

Unite said Royal Mail, regulator Ofcom and the government had "failed to address the serious problems facing Royal Mail, especially high competition from gig economy postal services". The union said the cuts would not improve Royal Mail's quality of service.

Royal Mail has been struggling to meet its delivery targets for first and second class post, and has been fined by the regulator for missing targets in recent years. Just over 75% of first class letters were delivered on time in the year to the end of March, far off its target of 93%. The company has repeatedly said its Universal Service Obligation (USO), a legal requirement to deliver letters six days a week to every address in the UK, is outdated and needs reform.

Royal Mail, which is separate from the Post Office, is owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, after shareholders approved his takeover at the end of April last year. The firm has said it is investing £500m over the next five years as part of its improvement plan. Kretinsky has previously said he will not walk away from the requirement to deliver letters throughout the UK six days a week, as long as he is running the service.