Dutch mail firm TNT Post has announced it will cut 7,000 jobs due to "declining volumes and increasing competition".
The company which employs about 58,000 people said it hoped to avoid large-scale involuntary redundancies but could not rule out the possibility of such a move.
In a statement the firm responsible for 16 million postal items each day revealed that operational efficiency measures alone would not enough to "achieve the cost savings of €300 million (£203 million)".
To meet such targets would result in the loss of about 11,000 jobs between 2007 and 2010 but the firm argued that a more "socially preferable" option would be to freeze employee wages at the present level for the next two and a half years along with other changes to employee benefits.
"With these measures the company believes it can limit the loss to between 6,500 and 7,000 jobs, most of which can be absorbed by natural attrition and assisted reemployment," a statement from the postal company read.
Although the firm said it would be discussing the changes with trade unions, TNT Post stressed that "unfortunately it may not be possible to avoid involuntary redundancies".
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