Auckland Council cuts jobs en route to 350 fewer positions than forecast

Wednesday, 20 November 2019

Auckland Council Chief Financial Officer Matthew Walker (right) and internal audit head Mark Maloney

Nearly 40 staff at Auckland Council have lost their jobs in the first phase of a rolling programme that will resume in the New Year.

Many of those are middle-management staff in the finance, ICT and human resources departments, and are the first in the programme to cut up to 160 staff and scrap 190 vacancies.

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The council will pause the process in the run-up to Christmas, with most of the affected staff in the early stage expected to know their futures by the end of November.

'We have got good employment practices, it is a lengthy process and it does take time,' said the chief financial officer Matthew Walker, whose finance department has been the first to cut jobs.

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The cuts are expected to contribute a large part of the $20 million of new savings the council is committed to making in this year, as part of its 10-year budget.

The savings will also help offset additional staff needed in areas dealing with growth such as building and resource consent issuing, although that work is part-funded by fees and charges.

Walker said some of that extra hiring was proving difficult, because of the competitive job market for skilled staff.

The cuts follow a year in which Auckland Council's full-time equivalent staff grew by around 400 to 6650, and further increases had been projected for this year.

The current reduction programme will hold staff numbers at the country's biggest local body, at between 6600 and 6700.

The programme will resume in the new year, through the community and social policy areas, parks, environment and social services, involving up to 600-700 staff whose jobs may change.

So far 38 staff have lost jobs, and the balance of the 80 reductions are through not replacing departing staff, or closing unfilled vacancies.

The staff reductions do not include the council-controlled agencies, such as Auckland Transport or Panuku Development, which face independent reviews in the new year on how well they are integrated into the council group.

The review will include how the agencies are held accountable, but also whether any or some of their functions should be brought 'in-house', back into the council.