Postman will also deliver on Saturday

Rome - In large cities, the postman will come knocking several times a day, while in small towns, mail deliveries will only take place every other day. Poste Italiane - thanks to an agreement just reached with the unions - is being reorganized on a more flexible pattern of post distribution, aiming to increase their market share in parcel delivery in the current climate of decline in revenues from letters (-6.5% trend in the first half 2015, down 11.6% in volume).

The plan provides for the possibility to transfer staff as needed at the provincial level but excludes the possibility of resorting to collective layoffs. The service will differ both in terms of delivery time and cost. In the big cities, deliveries may arrive at different times of the day, including the afternoon, while in the municipalities with a lower housing density, correspondence will come only on alternate days, as provided for by a resolution of AGCOM.

From 1 October, stamp prices will also change; ordinary mail will go from 80 to 95 cents (with mail delivery in four days) and priority mail will cost €2.80 (with next day delivery). The revenues of Poste Italiane depend less and less on postal services and trade (1.9 billion of 4.3 overall in the first half of 2015) and more on financial services (2.35 billion), partly because of the exponential growth in the use of email and social networks.

The new delivery model - Poste Italiane explains - introduces an organizational structure that identifies three different areas based on intensity of postal volumes and with specific service models. “For metropolitan areas with high “postal density” and strong competitive pressure, the plan is to create a network dedicated to delivery to the recipient. In the provincial capitals and in deregulated suburban areas, the delivery service will be conducted every other day with the creation of an additional service which will provide additional daily delivery of some everyday products while in the regulated suburban areas (about 5,300 municipalities) delivery will take place only on alternate days. In a delicate moment for the future of all postal operators in the world due to the gradual decrease in the volume of paper correspondence – as stated by the national head SLP-CISL, Mario Petitto - the agreement signed between Poste Italiane and the unions “is a first important step in the reorganization of the largest postal service and logistics company in the country.”