Pos Malaysia, the Pandemic and Meeting Rising E-Commerce Demand

The nation’s oldest postal service is changing the game with a new programme

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Pos Malaysia
Pos Malaysia logo and promotional image courtesy of Pos Malaysia’s official website

Pos Malaysia Bhd is providing new income-generating opportunities to earn a better life for its employees by introducing Entrepreneurship Programme (EP) which would enable distribution employees to become business partners in the last-mile delivery of parcels and mail. 

EP is part of the five-year transformation plan of Pos Malaysia and is aimed at providing employees with new revenue opportunities. It plays an important role in scaling up last-mile distribution capacity, especially during the new normal era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The EP is also aligned with the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) initiatives to promote jobs and rescue for Malaysians, especially those in the B40 community, to help the country’s economy recover,” said Pos Malaysia Postal Services Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Rozaidi Md Sharif.

18,500 Pos Malaysia employees are earning below RM2,500, which puts them in the B40 category effectively.

Pilot Programme

Pos Malaysia conducted an EP pilot programme at the Shah Alam and Kuala Lumpur Pos Laju centres in November 2019. It managed to attract 19 Pos Malaysia delivery personnel to sign up for the programme.

“As of January 2021, a total of 798 delivery partners were working closely with Pos Malaysia through EP,” Mohamed Rozaidi said.

EP Benefits

Mohamed Rozaidi said similar to the Pos Rider initiative which is open to non-employees, EP partners can keep 100% of the commission they earn from each parcel delivered.

To ensure success and sustainability of the programme, Pos Malaysia provides the participants with essential assistance which includes business start-up capital and a vehicle ownership plan.

Free entrepreneurship courses are also conducted to learn the basics of running a business and how to maximise the opportunities provided through the programme.

Interested delivery employees can get in touch with their Delivery Outsourcing Unit or fill up an EP Application Google Form online.

Applicants are required to go through a screening process to ensure that delivery partners are adept in delivery operations and should not be under probation or investigation for misconduct or facing any disciplinary action.

Moving Forward

Mohamed Rozaidi said the introduction of EP is also timely as demonstrated during the first Movement Control Order last year.

“During MCO 1.0, Pos Malaysia processed an average of 487,000 parcels daily, with the highest number being 800,000 parcels a day. Similarly, during the current MCO 2.0 and in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, our parcel volume surged to above 800,000 parcels a day,” he said.

EP delivery partners played a critical role in helping Pos Malaysia to deal with the surge in parcel volume and increase capacity in handling higher parcel volume. It will help mitigate the cost of delivering one million parcels daily.

Currently, EP is available in all states and is planning to expand across major cities in Malaysia, aiming to recruit up to 2,000 postmen entrepreneurs by the end of 2021.