Labor shortages have hampered the delivery of traditional mail in parts of the capital region. The situation is made more difficult by the further worsening of the COVID-19 and seasonal flu situation. Exposures, quarantines and sickness absences caused by COVID-19 have also increased at Posti, and predicting their magnitude is difficult. We estimate that local delivery delays of 1–2 days are still expected in the capital region in the coming weeks. Elsewhere in the country, the situation is now stable.
Challenges in the availability of labor have been reflected in a greater dispersion in the quality of traditional mail delivery in the capital region. However, it has mainly been possible to deliver items with a delay of 1–2 days and in such a way that delivery problems have not concerned the same recipients on consecutive days.
Exposures, quarantines and sickness absences caused by COVID-19 have also increased at Posti in the capital region
Enhanced recruitment has helped slightly in the availability of labor, but now the indirect and direct effects of COVID-19 in terms of exposures, quarantine and illness in the capital region also affect Posti.
Labor shortages and the increased amount of sick leave are a complicated equation to solve quickly. In some areas, the number of sickness absences has doubled when compared to last year. The personnel’s excellent commitment to the instructions of the authorities has so far ensured that services are provided normally almost everywhere in Finland without major disruptions. At the moment, the sickness situation outside the capital region is better.
“Health and safety are matters on which we do not compromise. It is the best way to ensure the continuity of our services and our contribution to maintaining the security of supply. We will do our best to ensure that our services work as well as possible in this exceptional situation; for example, by making additional delivery rounds this week. Our precautionary COVID-19 measures are based on the instructions of the authorities and are partly even stricter, as we want to do everything we can to protect our employees, their families and our customers,” says Jarmo Ainasoja, Head of Exception Management at Posti.
According to the forecast, local delivery delays are expected in the capital region also in the coming weeks
According to our current estimate, local delays of 1–2 days in parts of the capital region are also expected in the coming weeks, until the situation normalizes in terms of labor availability and sick leave. Delays may concern letters, magazines and advertisements as well as newspapers delivered in day mail and small parcels delivered to mail slots and mailboxes.
“This continues to be a local problem in the capital region. We are monitoring the situation closely daily. We understand that every item is important and valuable for both the sender and the recipient. Therefore, why we will do everything within our power to solve this. Currently, we lack manpower especially in Espoo and in the early-morning delivery of newspapers in the Helsinki city center. In terms of day mail, the problematic areas are the Helsinki city center and the western regions as well as parts of Espoo and Western Vantaa,” says Jarmo Ainasoja.
The service disruption notices concerning the early-morning delivery and daytime delivery are available on our website posti.fi
Mail recipients can check if there has been a disturbance to delivery in their area on our website post.fi/hairiot. For early-morning delivery, the notice is published in the morning. For daytime delivery, the notice is published by the early evening when sufficient information is available on the completion of the delivery routes.
For more information about the changes in our services, please check this bulletin on our website Posti.fi.
