Desire is the last stop, where the machine will soon speak to you.
The reason why post offices are shrinking is not because of privatization, but because of structural changes in rural areas. At least that is what Deutsche Post wants us to believe. “When the last supermarket or general store in a village closes and there are no other retailers to partner with, the branch locations remain empty,” he was quoted as saying in all regions. German press On Monday. According to a report by the Federal Network Agency on Monday, this happened in July at 141 so-called mandatory locations across Germany, including 24 in North Rhine-Westphalia, eight in Saxony, five in Saxony-Anhalt and three in Thuringia.
Nationwide, most postal work is done at kiosks and other retail outlets with postal counters in 13,000 locations nationwide, so postal service provision now relies on the retail infrastructure. This is “difficult,” especially in rural areas, a Deutsche Post spokesperson explained. So it’s no wonder that the number of vacancies has increased. The number of vacant essential posts has increased by 16 since February, more than double the number in October last year. However, in January, there were 174 vacant essential posts, which is higher than in recent times.
“The privatization of the postal service has put billions of euros in the pockets of shareholders,” explains Sören Pellmann, chairman of the Left group in the Bundestag. On the other hand, due to years of staff cuts and closures of sites, the basic services guaranteed to residents are increasingly under threat. Therefore, every community with more than 2,000 inhabitants must have at least one branch. For more than 4,000 inhabitants, the branch must be accessible within a maximum radius of 2 km.
The shortage of branches could be officially alleviated next year, as new regulations on the revised Postal Code come into effect at the end of the year. Then, in certain circumstances, even automated post offices will be considered essential.
