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RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- The state-owned Correios, Brazil's postal service, announced Thursday the start of a program of voluntary dismissals, aiming to shed between 6,000 and 8,000 of its more than 117,000 employees, as a way to stem severe losses.
In a press conference, Correios president, Guilherme Campos, said that the reduction of personnel should save between 850 million and 1 billion reais (265.6-312.5 million U.S. dollars) a year.
According to Campos, the plan could be expanded to cover up to 13,000 people, mostly those over 55, who are close to or already at retirement age.
Correios saw a deficit of 2 billion reais (635 million U.S. dollars) in 2015, and it is expected to close out this year with a similar result. These low financial results have been attributed to former president Dilma Rousseff, who refused to raise postal fees or lower the high dividends Correios pays into the federal treasury.
This economic adjustment is part of the spending reduction plan launched by the government of President Michel Temer. Brazil is expected to face a record deficit of 170.5 billion reais (51.67 billion U.S. dollars) this year, the third negative year in a row.
