Hit by e-mail, social network sites, Royal Mail prepares to lay off thousands

The rise in the number of social networking sites, e-mails and texts has led to a 22 percent decline in the number of letters sent each day, says Royal Mail announcing more job cuts in its letters division.

After revealing that it is losing more than £2 million a week, Royal Mail chief executive, Moya Greene told Guardian, “Royal Mail which has cut down 42,000 since 2002, have to become smaller to survive,” .

Greene, said more job cuts were needed to put the company on a sound, secure and sustainable footing.

The loss of £120 million in the last financial year has dragged the Royal Mail's business to a £49-million loss, compared to a £113 million profit a year earlier, said a report in Guardian.

Royal Mail refused to say the exact number of jobs to be cut but a source said that the jobs cut would be higher than the 5,500 job cuts made last year.

An estimated 20,000 jobs will be cut this time, including both full-time and part-time posts, the report said.

About 1,100 workers in London have been told that their roles are additional to the company’s requirements. The union is expected to begin organizing a strike on Friday.

According to Royal Mail the rise in the number of social networking sites, emails and texts has led to a 22 percent decline in the number of letters sent each day.

More than 80 million items were posted five years ago. It is said that the daily postbag will shrink by a further 25 percent over the next five years.

With the decline in our volumes, we are going to be a smaller company in the future than we are today, Greene said.