The move, part of a restructuring plan, comes as the firm faces heavy criticism over ongoing postal delays.
Mr Thompson said absences had been "a headwind" in delivering productivity targets. Between April and December last year the firm had spent more than £340m on overtime, additional temporary staffing and sick pay, he said.
Royal Mail has seen deliveries particularly hard hit by staff sickness and absences with the advent of Omicron, with around one in eight staff affected over the Christmas period. But even before that, it had repeatedly failed to meet delivery targets. In the first year of the pandemic Royal Mail saw rising demand for its services as people switched to shopping online at home.
Royal Mail said it believed it was retaining its share of the deliveries market, although it saw a slower than expected pick-up around the Black Friday shopping period.
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