Business
The translation of the heading to English is: "Post Office continues to struggle for employees' trust: Nick Read admits shortcomings.
Despite compensation payments and remediation measures, the Post Office continues to struggle with a loss of trust among employees.
The post office continues to struggle to regain the trust of its employees, the outgoing CEO Nick Read admitted. Despite extensive efforts, numerous employees continue to report problems with the controversial Horizon IT system, which led to numerous miscarriages of justice between 2000 and 2014.
Reed commented on Wednesday before the public inquiry into one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history. "We are obviously not reaching everyone," he said. "We need to do more to gain the trust of the postmasters who run the branches." This statement follows a defeat in August, in which a judge in Washington found that the Post Office held a monopoly in internet search and unfairly defended it against competition.
The public inquiry revealed that the faulty data from the Horizon system led to the unjust conviction of around 555 postmasters. Consequently, the Post Office agreed to a compensation payment of 58 million pounds. Despite this compensation and the announced remediation measures, employee trust remains diminished.
On Tuesday, a YouGov survey revealed that nearly 70 percent of postmasters have experienced unexplained financial discrepancies in the Horizon system since 2020. Many had to cover these deficits with their own funds, significantly increasing the financial burden on employees. Read emphasized that the Post Office is now working to completely replace the Horizon system to prevent future errors.
The relationship with the technology partner company Fujitsu remains tense.
Critics accuse Read of inadequately handling the crisis, particularly as he accepted bonus payments despite ongoing issues, while those affected waited for compensation. In his investigation report, Read stated that his work assignment at the time of his appointment in September 2019 did not include claims against the Post Office by the postmasters.
The US government is also considering taking legal action to break up the Post Office, further highlighting the company's structural problems. Read acknowledged that the restructuring plan still faces criticism, particularly regarding the treatment of existing shareholders who were disadvantaged by the capital reduction without compensation.
