Following on from the lasat blog post aboutt the Post Office. There’s two parts I wanted to look at… one being, is it really what we need moving forward and secondly, the human cost element.
Today, I’ll focus on the tech side of things.
Bal, what do you mean the tech side of things? – we know it was Horizons.
Yes… we know that the system was at fault. I won’t necessarily go into what could’ve happened and what could’ve been done. But let’s look to the future in the sense, do we still need the Post Office?
The Post Office has seen a downward trend for a while. People not posting letters (rather more folks are emailing), other parcel companies doing a slightly better job and most of all… what is it that we really need from the post office?
Yes, some of the older folks will post christmas & birthday cards to loved ones.
Yes, some folks need the post office to send off letters such as passport renewals etc.. under ‘recorded delivery’.
Yes, some folk need the post office to pick up some stationary, envelopes, etc…
But… looking at the next generation and some of the younger folk – do they send cards or is it all e-cards these days? – but moreso, meeting up. They’d rather go to the person, spend some time with them then return – plenty of statistics show since covid, people want to spend time with loved ones.
To be fair, the gov.uk site is good and clear. Easy to renew your passport online – along with other official documents.
Let’s be honest… when was the last time you bought an envelope or some stationary from a shop? (If I was to guess, it’s probably Amazon!)
So then the question remains… do we actually need the post office?
The Royal Mail will come to your house to pick up any letters (or parcels) you need posting.
Then let’s look at the post office employees… there’s been a downward trend since 2014
Let’s combine everything together…
- Decrease (significantly) in the number of employees – some of which were most probably due to the Horizons scandal
- Increase in services that the post office offer which are now available directly to your home
- Technology has highlighted the fact that most processes (passport renewals etc..) can be easily done on-line
So the question is, do we really need the post office?
