Swiss Post CEO Roberto Cirillo defends postal strategy
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Swiss Post CEO Roberto Cirillo defends postal strategy
Swiss Post CEO Roberto Cirillo has rejected criticism of Swiss Post's strategy. The financial situation is stable and the investments in new services will pay off in the long term, he said in an interview with the Tamedia newspapers.
+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
The CHF100 million ($115 million) invested in the renovation of the branches will ensure that they remain relevant for the population in the future. “We would never invest CHF100 million so that customers can continue to just pick up letters and make deposits at the counter,” Cirillo was quoted as saying. The overall offering had to be refreshed.
When asked why new services were needed from Swiss Post that could just as easily be carried out using a smartphone, the Swiss Post CEO replied that many people lacked confidence in new technologies and applications. This is because there is no longer a person at the other end that customers can talk to. Swiss Post, on the other hand, is “a symbol of this trust”.
Reduction of the branch network
In addition to investing in the 600 or so remaining company-operated branches by 2028, Swiss Post is continuing to reduce its branch network as planned. Partnerships are currently being sought for the 170 locations affected. In a press release on Tuesday, Swiss Post announced that it is seeking discussions with the municipalities in which company-operated branches will be dismantled and replaced by postal agencies. It is not the case that Swiss Post simply makes decisions without consulting the affected areas.
More
Swiss Post sets out to reinvent the post office
However, this is precisely what the Syndicom trade union accuses Swiss Post of doing. In a statement, it demands that Swiss Post should retain its existing network of 770 branches and calls on all political players to take active action against the plans to reduce the number of branches. Full and barrier-free access to the basic postal service must be maintained.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.