The combination of the postal networks of PostNL and Sandd has completed on 1 February. As of this date, mail in the Netherlands will be delivered by a single, strong country-wide postal network, enabling it to be sent and received five days a week. The consolidation is also the best option to protect jobs in the postal sector. PostNL is welcoming over 4,300 new employees from Sandd. PostNL confirms the strategic and financial drivers for value creation as announced on 1 October 2019.
Herna Verhagen, PostNL’s CEO, says: “We welcome our new colleagues at PostNL and are very pleased that we are able to offer so many people a job, income and security. All employees currently working for Sandd will continue to have priority when applying for jobs at PostNL. Clients and consumers can continue to count on a strong postal network that is always close to where they are and offers high-quality service at reasonable prices.”
Resi Becker, Director of Mail in the Netherlands at PostNL, adds: “For many people and organisations, physical mail remains a vital and relevant way to connect and to stay in touch with others. Of course, digital communications will continue to grow, but physical mail continues to catch people’s attention, and is always nearby and reliable. The hand-written birthday card, a voting card, your favourite magazines and medical shipments: they’re all delivered by PostNL, five days a week, across the country.”
Becker continues: “Our merged operation reflects a complicated logistical exercise that has required a lot of hard work. For one thing, we’ve developed new work schedules for all 20,000 postmen and women, and have taken measures to ensure successful delivery of all mail. It may take some time to absorb combined volumes into our network and spread them evenly over five delivery days, but we’ll do everything we can to resolve any issues as quickly as possible.”
Enhanced job security for postal deliverers
The consolidation will help cushion the decline of the postal market in a socially responsible way. All Sandd’s postal deliverers (11,000 in total) have been offered jobs with PostNL. Just under 40% directly informed PostNL they would not be joining PostNL, given the opportunities they have in the labour market and the severance payments offered by Sandd. Over 60% have indicated they would like to receive a personal job offer. About 4,000 mail deliverers employed by Sandd have accepted the offer and will start working for PostNL on 1 February, and from then on a total of 20,000 postal deliverers will deliver about seven million letters a day*, five days a week.
In addition, over 300 employees working in sorting, as drivers and in other roles will be joining PostNL (either Mail or Parcels) from Sandd. PostNL will also continue its collaboration with sheltered workplace companies, protecting 500 jobs for employees who face challenges in the labour market.