OSLO, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Norway Post's employees might lose their job next year due to plans by the company to centralize its operations, public broadcaster NRK reported Thursday.
This concerns post office employees in the Norwegian cities of Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Molde and Stokke, the report said.
"The employees have received the message today. The final decision has not been taken, but there are quite strong guidelines here," said Helge Mathisen, a representative of labour union Postkom.
"People were surprised that this could happen so fast. It has been said that (the reorganization) will be completed in 2019," Mathisen added.
Norway Post confirmed to NRK that it is urgent to implement the measures, as the volume of letters handled by the postal service has fallen sharply over the past 20 years.
This year the decline has become significantly faster than before, the company said.
Mathisen said that the employees understand how difficult the financial situation has become.
"The decline is more severe and rapid than expected. However, we have expected to keep these jobs for a few more years," he said.
It is currently unclear when the final decision will be taken -- whether all of these employees will lose their jobs or be moved to other jobs within the company, the report said.
