New Zealand Post to slash mail deliveries

The government agreed to a steep reduction in the six-day-a-week service from 2015 following lobbying from New Zealand Post. The company said reduced delivery days will result in significant job losses. The move could foreshadow similar changes in other developed nations as businesses and residents increasingly move online to communicate and pay bills.

From June 2015, New Zealand Post will be required to deliver mail three days a week in urban areas and five days a week in rural areas.

Brian Roche, chief executive of New Zealand Post, said: “People just don’t look at their letterbox any more as their principal form of communication.” Mr Roche said mail delivery is barely breaking even and would lose money without cuts.