Royal Mail hemorrhaging 400 workers weekly as new delivery system falters

Royal Mail is hemorrhaging staff at an accelerating rate. The Communication Workers Union reports that roughly 400 postal workers are now leaving the company each week—a jump from the 330 departures per week recorded before the summer rollout of a new delivery system called DM26. The union contends the system is malfunctioning across hundreds of delivery offices, and workers themselves are warning of a catastrophic Christmas season as parcel volumes spike and staffing shrinks.

DM26 was designed to streamline operations by reorganizing delivery routes and reducing work crews from four people to three. The system permits second-class mail to be delivered every other weekday instead of daily, while guaranteeing first-class mail and parcels arrive each day. Royal Mail has positioned the overhaul as essential to building a leaner, more financially sustainable operation. But the reality on the ground tells a different story. Postal workers speaking anonymously describe a system that is not delivering on its promises. One worker in the West Midlands recounted a recent shift where no first-class mail left the depot at all because the route had fallen so far behind schedule—yet management, the worker suspected, would mark the boxes as delivered anyway. Letters are being left behind. Sorting and dividing mail into priority categories is consuming time that should go toward actual delivery. Parcels continue to be prioritized over letters, contradicting the system's stated design.

The physical toll on workers has become measurable and severe. When BBC News asked eight postal workers across different regions to track their daily step counts, the results were consistent and alarming. Since switching to DM26, every single worker's step count had climbed by between a quarter and a third—many now walking 25,000 steps per shift. Several workers described the coming Christmas period as a "nightmare." One postman in the East Midlands said plainly: "We all think this Christmas will be the worst ever, for us and our customers." Bryn Dymott, who had delivered post in the village of Wootton in Bedfordshire for nine years and generally enjoyed the work, quit in July. He could not face another Christmas under what he called a "shambolic" system. "People put things in the post for them to be delivered, not for them to be delayed because Royal Mail hasn't got the systems in place and enough people to get them delivered," he said after leaving. He spoke out because he was tired of postal workers being silenced about what was actually happening. The math, he said, was simple: "It's impossible to have four people's work done by three people."

The rollout has reached about 1,000 of Royal Mail's 1,200 delivery offices—roughly 83 percent of the network. The union claims the system is working in around 500 offices but has encountered serious problems in hundreds of others. In response, the CWU has instructed members to halt further deployment until Royal Mail agrees to a plan addressing the failures. Martin Walsh of the union used a stark metaphor: "Put simply, if a boat is already taking on water, adding more passengers is unlikely to solve the problem." The union notes that most departing workers are new hires on part-time contracts, but there has also been a notable increase in longer-tenured staff leaving.

Royal Mail's position remains unchanged. The company insists the system is on track and performing as intended. It says the rollout is 90 percent complete and that it is now delivering to 95 percent of addresses daily across the UK, up from 88 percent before the change. The company plans to have DM26 fully operational in all offices by Christmas and expects service quality to improve as the rollout continues. Royal Mail is also hiring 22,000 temporary workers for the Christmas period, as it does every year. But the company faces mounting pressure. Ofcom, the regulator, has fined Royal Mail more than £37 million over the last three years for missing delivery targets. Last week, Royal Mail announced plans to cut 2,500 head office and support roles by the end of 2027 as it grapples with falling letter volumes and increased competition. Some MPs are now questioning whether the current approach can work at all. Dave Robertson, a Labour MP from Staffordshire, said the situation demands fresh thinking: "We need to bring as many people to the table on this to make sure we come up with a long-term solution because what's been tried up to now clearly isn't working." Ofcom has promised to continue holding Royal Mail accountable, and the Postal Services Minister has said the company's improvement plan is a step forward but must deliver real results for customers. What happens over the next two months—whether DM26 stabilizes, whether the Christmas period becomes the disaster workers fear, whether further staff exodus accelerates—will determine whether this system survives or whether Royal Mail must fundamentally rethink its approach.