The leading high technology mailing company, bakergoodchild, conducted a survey for postal workers in the UK finding that 62% of postal workers do not feel safe working their regular route. They have launched a campaign to celebrate postal workers in the UK, at a time where they are more overworked than ever.
Leading up to one of the busiest times of the year for letters and parcels to be sent in the UK, bakergoodchild conducted a survey to reveal the issues postal workers regularly face. Currently, Britons send over 11 million letters and parcels by Royal Mail each day. The data highlighted several issues of safety as well as the areas with highest demand of post.
Since the pandemic, the amount of people using post has increased by one-third, and with Christmas fast approaching and online shopping spend expected to increase by 25% from the previous four years, it is anticipated to be the busiest time postal workers have ever had. With post demand at an all-time high and with Royal Mail experiencing staff shortages across the UK, bakergoodchild have launched a campaign to celebrate all postal workers in the UK.
The data indicated that those living in Cardiff are most likely to send post regularly, with 57% of individuals having sent a handwritten card or letter in the last month, compared to only 14% of Londoners. Interestingly, 35% of people living in London hadn’t sent anything by post for nearly a year. Also, according to the data, those in the North were heavier post users than the South, with 27% of northerners having sent or received a letter in the last month compared to 13% in the south.
An interesting revelation in the survey was that 71% of people in the UK don’t know their postman or postwoman’s name. A monumental change from 50 years ago, where individuals not only knew the name of their regular postal worker, but they often gave them a Christmas present or bonus.
The most astounding issue that arose was the safety of postal workers. When dog owners were asked what their dogs made of their postal workers, just under half said that their dogs are not fond of them and may attack them given the chance. Along with that, 53% of postal workers citied that they regularly get a hard time from dogs. Revealing no surprise that 62% of postal workers expressed a feeling of unsafety on their regular route. Last year there were 33 dog attacks on mail carriers every week in the UK or 1,690 over the whole year. Although these figures are shocking, with the increase in contactless deliveries, dog attacks were actually down by a third on 2019’s figures.
Bruce Thomson, Managing Director of bakergoodchild, comments: “Post pandemic, Direct mail is at an all-time high, despite the public perception of it being at an all-time low. One-quarter of people had sent a hand-written letter or card in the last month and well over 50% have sent one in the past six months. Royal Mail are currently looking for 20,000 temporary workers to see them through the next few months and with the current projections of this years’ golden quarter, the job of postal workers will be the most difficult it’s ever been. With our dependence on the mailing industry increasing massively, it is important that we show support to our postal workers.”
For more information, visit: bakergoodchild.co.uk
