The number of pieces of mail being processed has fallen by nearly 200 million in the last decade. Mail volumes are currently declining at 8 per cent a year.
"We looked at all options and decided this plan will allow New Zealand Post to achieve savings on a meaningful scale while maintaining a high-quality service across New Zealand," Roche said.
Last week New Zealand Post said it would axe 80 to 100 corporate roles at its Wellington and Auckland offices by July in a move affecting roughly 6 per cent the company's 1340 corporate staff.
It said the restructuring would provide cost savings and also "right-size the firm", which has faced a sharp decline in mail volumes, to meet the current business conditions.
In January the state owned enterprise said it planned to reduce delivery days and replace some Postshops with self-service kiosks.
NZ Post:
* A state owned enterprise formed in 1987.
* Under the Postal Service Act 1998, which allowed competition in the letters market, a new "Deed of Understanding" required NZ Post to meet a series of social, stamp price, and service obligations.
* Under that deed NZ Post must provide five or six-day delivery to 99.88 per cent of delivery points or postal addresses.
* It also has to maintain at least 880 postal outlets and post centres.
* While letter volumes have fallen sharply in recent years, the number of delivery points has increased, squeezing profits.
* The letters business is now barely breaking even and is forecast to produce a $25 million loss by 2018.
