One in five branches of Swiss Post are set to be closed for good over the next four years, the company announced on Wednesday. Due to increasing financial pressure, only 600 “self-operated” branches of the postal service will remain in operation in the future.

Swiss Post to cut around 170 branches in Switzerland

In a statement released on May 29, Swiss Post confirmed that it would be shrinking the number of shops it operates to 600 branches. With only 768 post offices still in operation today, approximately 168 will be closed over the next four years. According to reporting from the 20 Minuten, around 69 jobs will be cut, while 110 roles will be eliminated via a combination of workers retiring or working fewer hours.

The announcement continues a long-term trend seen at the Swiss post office. 20 years ago, Swiss Post operated 3.000 different branches across the cantons. This was gradually reduced until May 2020, when then-company president Urs Schwaller promised that “around” 800 branches would be maintained. This promise has now been broken.

Swiss Post branches becoming more unprofitable

In explaining the change, Swiss Post wrote that “despite consistent efficiency efforts”, it is “unable to compensate for [financial] losses.” In 2023, the state-owned company ran an operating loss of 93 million francs, which forced it to consider both raising revenues and cutting services. This ranged from launching new products like mobile phone packages to plans to cut delivery times and scrap the A and B-class post system.

The company argued that the cuts to post offices reflect the changing behaviour of customers. In 2023, 18,4 percent fewer transactions were made in Swiss Post branches compared to the year before, and 50 percent less compared to five years ago. 

600 remaining post offices to be turned into service centres

In the future, Swiss Post will spend 100 million francs converting the remaining 600 “backbone” branches into service centres, meaning they will include banks, health insurance providers and even essential services offered by local councils. They also argued that despite the closures, the company would still provide around 2.000 “serviced locations” in Switzerland - post offices, partner branches, ATMs, service points and home service systems.

So far, Swiss Post has yet to reveal which branches will be closed, but for those due for the chop it would be working with local authorities to try to maintain services such as by sharing the store space with another company. The closures are due to begin in January 2025.

Unions and SP call on Swiss government to save post offices

In response to the announcement, Swiss Union Syndicom wrote that "if the Swiss Post were to implement this, it would amount to an unprecedented reduction in the public service…Syndicom demands that the Post Office not lay off a single employee.” Commentators have also raised concerns about how the cut to post offices will affect the elderly and the residents of more rural areas in the mountains.

Both Syndicom and the Social Democratic Party have called on the government to help save the branches affected, with the latter arguing in a statement that despite the losses of recent years, Swiss Post’s finances are good enough to maintain services.

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