Royal Mail is to cut around 2,000 management jobs as part of plans to save £330 million over the next two years.
Senior executive and non-operational roles among its 9,700 managers will be hardest hit.
Royal Mail is one of a raft of companies in the UK to announce hefty job losses due to the pandemic, including British Gas owner Centrica and airlines easyJet and British Airways.
Keith Williams, interim executive chairman at Royal Mail Group, said the firm is taking "immediate action" on costs to offset the Covid-19 impact.
He said: "In recent years, our UK business has not adapted quickly enough to the changes in our marketplace of more parcels and fewer letters.Covid-19 has accelerated those trends, presenting additional challenges."
John Moore, senior investment manager at Brewin Dolphin, said: “Not long after completing a root and branch transformation programme, Royal Mail is undertaking another one. It is perhaps best explained by today’s statement: Royal Mail needs to reflect the fundamental changes in its markets – which have been accelerated by Covid-19 – and has been too slow to do so in the past.
"There is a lot of bad news for many people in these results – particularly the job cuts faced by staff – and the many income investors who own Royal Mail’s shares won’t see another dividend until at least 2021-22.
"Nevertheless, big changes are necessary and the hope will be that these radical moves will make the business more flexible and able to respond to growth potential from online retail, whilst more efficiently dealing with the legacy business.”
