Russia’s Postal Service Faces Collapse in Regions as Staff Quit Over ‘Penny’ Wages

Russia's sprawling state-run postal service is teetering on the edge of a logistical crisis in several regions, as a mass exodus of underpaid employees forces the widespread closure of essential local branches. The disruption highlights the deep financial strain on the company, which is saddled with 133 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) in debt.
In Perm Krai, the town of Polazna, home to 13,000 people, recently lost its only post office after its entire staff quit. Residents now face a 40-kilometer journey to the regional capital to send or receive mail. A similar story is unfolding across the country, from Bashkortostan to Sverdlovsk Oblast.
“They pay us pennies but have demands like a bank,” one local resident wrote on social media, capturing a sentiment echoed by postal workers nationwide. In the Sverdlovsk region, a branch serving up to 80,000 people shut down entirely after a coordinated staff walkout over wages.
The crisis is forcing drastic measures. In Bashkortostan, the number of regional postal hubs is set to be slashed from 15 to just five or six. Lenard Shafikov, a regional director for Russian Post, framed the cuts as a move toward efficiency, stating the goal was to "have no more managers than are truly necessary."
This "optimization" follows a late-2023 proposal from Russia's Ministry of Digital Development to close branches in smaller cities to shore up the company's finances. Meanwhile, corporate leadership has reportedly told dissatisfied employees to simply "look for another job," signaling that relief for the strained workforce—and the communities that depend on it—is unlikely to come soon.