Billion-euro savings package

Deutsche Post to cut 8,000 jobs this year

Deutsche Post is cutting 8,000 jobs this year.

(Bild: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV)

Deutsche Post has to take cost-cutting measures and is cutting 8,000 jobs by the end of the year in a "socially responsible" manner. This concerns the letter and parcel business in Germany, where the company had around 187,000 employees at the turn of the year - around 4 percent of jobs are to be cut. 

The cost-cutting program also affects other areas of the globally operating logistics company DHL, which is called Deutsche Post in its national core business and has around 600,000 employees worldwide.

Higher costs cause problems for the Group
Increased costs are causing the Group problems: Last year, it was able to increase its turnover by 3 percent to 84.2 billion euros, but the operating result (EBIT) plummeted by 7.2 percent to 5.9 billion euros. The cost-cutting measures are intended to reduce costs by more than 1 billion euros. The Post & Parcel Germany division - i.e. Deutsche Post's business - achieved a turnover of around 17.3 billion euros, an increase of 2.7 percent. The operating result fell by 5.6 percent to 821 million euros.

In the digital age, letter volumes have been falling for a long time. Last year, the volume of direct mail fell significantly, as the company put it. Parcel volumes, on the other hand, increased.

Germany business problem child for global Group
Swiss Post's core business in Germany is more of a problem child for the global group; other business areas are more lucrative - such as express shipments, which are mainly used by companies to send time-critical goods and documents. Supply chain services and the freight business also generate more profit. However, the effects of the gloomy economy and geopolitical conflicts were also felt in these business areas.

DHL management is cautious when looking ahead. They continue to expect "a subdued macroeconomic environment", they said. "We expect the global political and economic situation to remain volatile in 2025," said CEO Tobias Meyer.

In Germany, Swiss Post was allowed to raise letter postage rates at the turn of the year, increasing the cost of sending letters by 10.5 percent. This was not enough for Swiss Post, which wanted to increase prices even more. However, the Federal Network Agency did not allow this.

Salaries up, number of employees down
The announcement of the job cuts in Germany comes just two days after a collective wage agreement with Verdi for around 170,000 letter carriers and women, parcel carriers and other logistics employees. The two-year collective agreement provides for an initial pay increase of 2 percent and a further 3 percent in the second year. In addition, all employees will receive an additional day of vacation and long-term employees will receive an additional day of vacation.