Mobility PostNL Helps 7,650 Employees Toward a New Future

PostNL is the national postal company in the Netherlands and currently employs more than 59,000 people. Since 2009, the postal market in the Netherlands has been entirely free. In 2013, PostNL’s share in this market was 79 percent and its revenue was €4.3 billion. In the period between 2006 and 2013, the letter volume handled by PostNL decreased by 40 percent. One of the measures PostNL is being required to take to adjust its operations to this volume decline is changing from being a delivery company with full-time postmen and postwomen to a company with part-time deliverers.

PostNL is the market leader in the Benelux in parcel distribution to consumers. The number of parcels delivered in the Netherlands is growing fast due to increased online shopping. Outside the Netherlands, PostNL is concentrating its international activities in European countries with growth opportunities for new players. These countries are the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy.

As a result of the rapidly developing digitization of communication and the decline of mail volume, PostNL has developed multiple master plans to reduce costs through various restructuring measures. One measure is a step-by-step replacement of the current full-time staff with newly appointed part-time employees in mail delivery. This aims at considerably reducing personnel costs and enabling the company to adjust its operations to the declining mail volume. In addition, PostNL has plans to reduce staff jobs by almost half.
PostNL agreed to a socially responsible workforce reduction in 2007. The applicable collective labor agreement provides for early retirement schemes for employees over the age of 50. For other employees, PostNL installed its own redeployment unit, PostNL Mobility, which aims at supporting employees moving from their existing jobs to new jobs on a voluntary basis.

Mobility program

With this mobility program, the company aims at preparing employees for other job opportunities and supporting them in employment outside the company via consultations, workshops, coaching, and achieving qualifications. Besides individual coaching, the program includes “Job-seeks-Worker” projects, in which project managers can build a network of interesting and reputable employers with multiple vacancies. Also, presentations and guided tours at potential employers are part of the program. Typical branches that PostNL looks at are transport and logistics, public transport, security (private and public), and technique/production.
The program for professional staff that was developed in 2012 to support them in finding new jobs was further expanded in 2013. This program, called “Mobility| PRO,” plays a prominent role in counseling highly educated people in their search for a new job. For the Mobility|PRO population, specific events are held with topics such as “Your own startup company.” But people can also choose to participate in various workshops with topics such as “Moving on in a professional way,” social media, and future perspectives. In addition, there are opportunities for assessments, vocational testing, interview training, and receiving financial advice.

Results and impact

Between 2006 and 2013, more than 7,500 employees left PostNL with the help of its mobility program. Compared to previous years, the number of employees that are leaving the company is decreasing. This is due to the fact that the pool of full-time employees in production has become smaller. 

In 2013 more than 950 of our highly educated professional staff have used one of the services of Mobility|PRO.