Restructuring with sparks at Romanian Post. Director Valentin Ștefan announces layoffs imposed by the Government in which he does not believe
The management of the Romanian Post states that it could quickly reduce the company's losses through a restructuring plan that includes the dismissal of approximately 2,000 employees, but admits that it does not fully support this approach, which it considers “forced” by the Government's requirements.
The general director of the Romanian Post, Valentin Ștefan, says that he is forced to fire people
Director General Valentin Ștefan points out that the modernization of the state company cannot be achieved through uniform measures applied to all public enterprises and claims that the Post should, rather, expand its activity and gain market share, including outside the country.
Restructuring requested by the state, but contested by the company's management
The government requested the Romanian Post to draw up a reorganization, restructuring and financial recovery plan, with the aim of reducing the losses accumulated in the previous years.
In this context, the management of the company claims that it had to put on paper a restructuring scenario, even if it does not consider it the best solution for long-term recovery.
“It's a plan we don't believe in, but we did it because we were forced to do it. State-owned companies don't modernize and get back on their feet as a lump sum, meaning you don't take them all and put them in the same boat and apply the same rules to them all. It needs customization”, said the director general of the Romanian Post, Valentin Ștefan, for Profit.
Variant layoffs: rapid impact on profitability
One of the measures analyzed in the turnaround plan aims to cut around 2,000 jobs, a measure that management describes as the fastest way to improve financial results.
“In the opinion of the head of the company, the profitability situation of the Romanian Post can be solved simply: you lay off about 2,000 people and in a few months the profitability will immediately increase“, it is stated in the analysis of the restructuring plan.
According to the company's data, personnel expenses represent approximately 80% of total costs, which means that any adjustment to the personnel structure has a significant impact on financial results.
“At the Romanian Post, personnel expenses represent 80% of the company's total expenses. If a ministry is determined to put the Romanian Post on its feet, then it must approve a restructuring plan that foresees the dismissal of approximately 2,000 people and the company's profitability problem will be solved in a few months”said Valentin Ștefan.
Historical debts and the pressure of financial recovery
The recovery plan requested by the shareholders, the Ministry of Economy and Fondul Proprietatea, aims to reduce the accounting losses accumulated in previous years, but also to make the company's activity more efficient.
However, the management of the Post Office believes that the focus on correcting historical debts limits the company's ability to develop strategically.
“It is anti-business to ask a company to recover on some accounting debts from the years 2009-2011, when the objectives should be completely different, such as expanding the investment portfolio”stated Valentin Ștefan.
The alternative proposed by the head of the Post Office
Instead of staff reductions, the Romanian Post management claims that the correct strategy should be aimed at expanding the activity and increasing the market share, including internationally.
“Perhaps it is a better approach for Poșta Română or others to gain market share, because it is a favorable period for such actions, or to expand outside the country. Basically, it is better to put resources into expansion than to pay historical accounting debts“, said the general manager.
The evolution of the number of employees and the structure of the company
In recent years, Poșta Română has gone through a constant process of staff reduction. Between 2010 and 2024, the average number of employees fell by more than 14,000, from 34,731 to about 20,154 employees.
Currently, the company has over 21,000 employees and operates a network of over 5,000 subunits, being the largest postal operator in Romania. With annual business of over 1.7 billion lei, Romanian Post is owned 93.75% by the Ministry of Economy and 6.25% by Fondul Proprietatea.
