30/10/2012

Royal Mail To Create 1,000 Jobs

1,000 jobs will be created at the Royal Mail over the next four years as the company invests £75m in its parcel business.

The programme will see a new parcel processing centre open in Chorley in autumn 2013.

Two new depots are to open in Cornwall and Hampshire and nine existing depots are to be expanded or relocated over the next four years.

But the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has said job losses at the Royal Mail will mean the workforce will not increase.

About 65,000 jobs have been cut since 2002 as the Royal Mail attempts to modernise.

'Profitable growth'

The UK express parcels market is currently worth £5.8bn a year or 1.1bn items.

Royal Mail Chief Executive Moya Greene said: "Our strategy is to convert the rise in parcel volumes into profitable growth. That means becoming a much more customer-focused company being run on commercial lines and investing in new, vital technology."

But Dave Ward, CWU deputy general secretary, said: "In truth, this project has already been several months in the making and CWU is involved in talks about how and where these jobs will be created, including the possibility of people transferring from other parts of the group where jobs are being lost.

"These jobs will go some way to easing the impact of jobs lost elsewhere in the company as huge changes are brought in to address the altering profile of mail. Working with the CWU, Royal Mail - unlike many private mail companies - has created good quality, and secure jobs with decent pay, terms and conditions."

(IT)

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