Post Office faces cuts to 3,500 jobs

The Post Office is threatening job cuts among 3,500 senior and middle managers as part of a root-and-branch organisational restructure.

The cuts, which a spokeswoman says will be made over the next 14 months, are a result of a project initiated by chief executive John Roberts, which aims to make the group quicker on its feet in advance of a government White Paper due next month.

The paper, which was originally due in February, will outline the exact parameters of the Post Office’s independent status. It follows former trade secretary Peter Mandelson’s decision last December to give the group greater commercial freedom as an alternative to privatising the business.

The project team, which was appointed in March, is analysing the Post Office’s nine current business divisions, with the remit of transforming their structure by April 2000 to manage the changes.

It has decided to scrap the separate management functions within the nine divisions, including sales and marketing responsibilities, and create new roles within a greater number of smaller units.

A spokeswoman says: “There will be some job cuts, but we have no specific details yet. People are being consulted.” She was unable to specify whether cuts would be made to marketing personnel.

It is not known whether the review of the Post Office’s 50m creative account being contested by TBWA GGT Simons Palmer, Saatchi & Saatchi, and incumbent Bates UK will be affected by the changes.