Public service job cuts: What ministries are proposing

Tuesday, 11 June 2024

The axe is falling on the public service, with major job cuts looming in the weeks and months ahead.

As of June 11, Stuff had confirmed that 5867 roles* have been - or are proposed to be - disestablished, as part of the cost savings drive.

The latest updates on cuts come from the Ministry of Justice and Ministry for the Environment, which will decrease its workforce by more than 40%.

Do you have information about cuts in the public service? Email glenn.mcconnell@stuff.co.nz

* The total figure includes 120 roles from Crown research institutes. These organisations received funding from the Government, but also private enterprise. Both of these revenue streams were expected to reduce.

It also includes 427 jobs that are coming to an end as the Government has stopped work on the water services amalgamation project. And roles from Crown Entities, such as ACC, which operate with a degree of autonomy and did not have savings targets - but have been asked to make “material savings”.

ACC

Although ACC, as a Crown Entity with its own revenue streams, was not officially included in the Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ savings targets, it has announced a significant restructure.

On May 9, ACC announced plans to disestablish 390 roles. However, it would form create 65 new “client facing” roles. The net loss would be 325 positions.

At some point in the future, ACC may look to create another 250 roles. While the ACC board had endorsed that plan, it was unclear when - or if - those roles would be created.

ACC chief executive Megan Main said she was pursuing a 6.5% cost reduction, similar to other government agencies that had been given specific savings targets. But Willis said this agency’s savings would not contribute to the Government’s tax plan.

Main said the Government “has a clear direction for public sector organisations”, which was why ACC was making these staffing cuts.

Callaghan Innovation

Callaghan Innovation, a state-funded research and development institute, detailed proposed cuts on Monday, April 8.

As well as receiving Government funding, Callaghan could access commercial revenue.

At Callaghan, a proposed “reset” would impact about 30 scientists and engineers in its “Innovation and Expertise Hapū”.

Civil Aviation Authority

The Civil Aviation Authority has no plans to restructure nor disestablish any roles at this time, a spokesperson said.

Commerce Commission

According to the Commerce Commission’s restructure proposal, seen by Stuff, the Crown entity planned to cut between 35 to 40 roles.

It employed about 400 people, so could lose 10% of its employees under the proposal.

Crown Law

Crown Law, which provides legal advice and representation to the Government, would cut 17 roles.

On March 27, staff were told of the plan - but nine of the 17 roles were vacant.

Customs Service

Customs announced plans on Monday, April 22, to disestablish 78 roles.

This followed the service accepting 33 applications for voluntary redundancy, after asking for applications in February. At the time, more than 100 staff applied.

Jobs being disestablished included dog trainers and senior customs officers across the country, who worked at ports and airports.

In total, Customs was proposing disestablishing 112 roles.

Department of Conservation

The Department of Conservation released a proposal on Wednesday, April 10, to disestablish 130 roles.

On top of the job losses, the department said it would need to cut $7.2 million worth of projects.

The 130 job losses would come from seven teams across the department:

• Biodiversity, Heritage & Visitors: 24 roles.

• Office of the director general: Two roles.

• Organisation Support: Nine roles.

• Policy & Regulatory Services: 22 roles.

• Public Affairs: 18 roles.

• Regional Operations: 54 roles.

• Treaty Relationships: One role.

The department was pursuing a 6.5% cost reduction.

Department of Internal Affairs

DIA is a large organisation which houses a whole range of government services.

It includes the National Library, the Passports Office, the department of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the Office of the Censor, local government services, and even Ministerial Services - which runs the ministers' offices.

Its cost cutting process has been dragged out.

In early May, DIA confirmed a proposal to take 15 roles out of its digital services team. That unit works across Government on IT and website management.

On April 22, the department confirmed cuts to the team that investigates child exploitation and money laundering. From Monday’s cuts, 59 roles were being disestablished.

On Friday, April 12, the department confirmed its first tranche of cost cutting would see 28 roles gone across the National Library and its Māori, Strategy and Performance branch.

The department was asked to cut 6.5% from its baseline expenditure.

'People changes account for less than half of the savings we have identified, with 60% of the required savings found in efficiencies,' the spokesperson said.

On May 17, the department said it planned to disestablish 195 roles as part of the cost saving directive.

Separately, DIA also housed the Three Waters group. It employed about 427 people.

All up, that is 622 roles.

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

A Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet spokesperson said DPMC was working to identify credible savings options and final decisions would be made as part of the Budget 2024 process.

Education Review Office

On May 10, the Public Service Association (PSA) said 25 roles had been disestablished at ERO.

The office employed 220 staff.

Kāinga Ora

State house builder Kāinga Ora proposed disestablishing 130 of its 3305 roles on Thursday, May 2.

Land Information NZ

Linz, which is responsible for land management and surveying, employed about 800 people. On April 24, the organisation confirmed it proposed disestablishing 57 roles - most of which were vacant.

Those jobs came from the digital delivery teams, geospatial specialists, legal department and analysts.

Manatū Taonga

The culture and heritage ministry proposed reducing its workforce to 150 roles.

Last year, it employed 184 full time equivalent staff.

But on April 11, the ministry said 23 staff had already left or were on fixed term contracts ending in June.

Going by the headcount reduction, 34 fewer people would work at the ministry. But only 11 staff would be eligible for redundancy.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Stuff understands restructures have been ongoing at MBIE for some time.

On Monday, April 15, Stuff was told that 48 jobs were going from the building, resources and markets division. This included roles working in dispute resolution.

According to The Post, 20 graduate roles had also been cut at the ministry.

Earlier, the ministry proposed cutting a quarter of its information and education team - culling 30 of 120 roles. This unit is responsible for explaining requirements and entitlements with the public.

There was an initial round of voluntary redundancies, which led to 111 jobs going, according to MBIE deputy secretary Richard Griffiths. A second round led to a further 55.4 full-time equivalent roles being disestablished, which was confirmed on May 3.

Some positions had also been disestablished in response to the Government’s work programme, including stop-work notices being issued. He gave examples of three projects where a total of 77 positions had been disestablished.

MBIE, which employs more than 6000 people, wants to find more than $400 million in savings.

And on April 10, the ministry confirmed a “variety of reasons” had seen its headcount fall by a further 68 roles.

All up, that means 409 roles have been disestablished so far - but more are likely.

Ministry of Education

Secretary for Education Iona Holsted announced plans to disestablish a further 190 roles on May 2.

This followed an April 17 proposed lay-off 565 Ministry of Education staff.

With a workforce of 4300 people, the proposals equated to 17.5% of roles being disestablished. In total, 755 roles were on the chopping block.

Education and public sector unions argued the scale of these cuts would reduce children’s access to specialist support services.

'This plan includes scrapping 87 jobs in the regions - people doing work including supporting children with disabilities, migrant and refugee children, advising schools on accessing speech and language therapy, lifting student achievement and helping ensure schools run smoothly,' said PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.

Holsted and Education Minister Erica Stanford denied the cuts would impact day-to-day education.

One other division at the ministry was yet to hear their restructure plans.

Ministry for the Environment

More than 40% of the funded workforce at the Ministry for the Environment is set to depart.

The ministry would be going from having funding for 1230 staff, to 727 roles. All up, that is 503 roles gone.

About 200 of those positions would come from the team that had been working to reform the Resource Management Act.

Ministry for Ethnic Communities

The Ministry of Ethnic Communities is facing a proposal to reduce its permanent workforce by 14%.

The ministry currently has 64 permanent employees, which are proposed to be cut to 55 - a headcount reduction of 9.

A spokesperson says consultation will run from 18 March to 12 April, with final decisions on the proposal expected by 30 April.

The ACT Party has previously declared it wanted to abolish the Ministry of Ethnic Communities.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

As part of the Coalition Government’s cost savings drive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked to make savings of 6.5%. As part of the Labour Government’s earlier cost savings drive, it was was asked to make a 2% cut.

In the end, Budget 2024 confirmed it would save just 1% - equating to $15 million per year.

Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health is proposing cutting about 25% of its workforce.

In a proposal sent to staff on Thursday, April 4, the ministry said it would disestablish 134 roles.

These included:

• 34 jobs in the clinical, community and mental health directorate.

• 46 roles from its corporate services division.

• 31 roles from the evidence research and innovation unit.

• 41 roles from the Government and executive services team.

• Two roles from the Māori health unit, although there would be further changes in this team as Te Aka Whai Ora - the Māori Health Authority - has been disestablished.

• 59 roles from the Public Health Agency.

• 41 roles from the ministry’s regulations and monitoring team.

• 39 roles from the policy and legislation team.

That Thursday, the PSA said cuts to the mental health directorate would mean the Suicide Prevention Office would close. Deputy Director-General of Health Robyn Shearer appeared to confirm the closure, saying the plan was to “integrate” the office with the rest of the mental health. The consultation document, seen by Stuff, showed four of the eight roles would be disestablished - including the director of the Suicide Prevention Office, a role which was vacant at the time.

However, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey denied the office would close and said he’d told the ministry to keep it open.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed disestablishing 40 of its 383 roles on Thursday, May 2.

The PSA said further cuts at HUD were likely.

Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice has told staff it is proposing to cut 123 jobs, equating to 11% of its workforce.

Secretary for Justice Andrew Kibblewhite said the reduction was “almost exclusively involving staff carrying out National Office functions”.

Ministry for Pacific Peoples

The Ministry for Pacific Peoples was facing a massive workforce cut, equivalent to 40% of its jobs.

In late March, it proposed to disestablish 63 roles. MPP has a workforce of about 156 staff, including vacant positions.

On May 10, the ministry confirmed it would disestablish 57 roles. Before the election, the ministry had been in the firing line of the ACT and National parties - with ACT leader David Seymour saying he would be happy if the entire ministry closed.

Ministry of Primary Industries

To acheive a 7.5% cost reductiin, MPI director general Ray Smith proposed cutting about 9% of roles - diestablishing 384 roles.

But when consultation on that proposal concluded, on May 16, the ministry said 391 roles would be disestablished. About 40% of those roles were vacant.

MPI has wide-reaching responsibilities. It was tasked with growing and sustaining primary industries such as farming, forestry, fishing, wine and food production.

It also employed fisheries officers, responsible for patrolling marine protection areas and checking quotas. Its Biosecurity division hired officers at airports and ports, who check for invasive pests and disease which could decimate the primary industries.

Smith said those compliance roles would not be impacted.

Ministry of Social Development

On Thursday, April 4, MSD boss Debbie Power invited non-frontline staff to apply for voluntary redundancy. From that, the ministry accepted 200 applications.

She said a restructure process would continue until mid-May.

Ministry of Transport

The Ministry of Transport disestablished 24 roles, most of them vacant.

It employs 232 staff.

Ministry for Women

A Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women spokesperson said it was committed to creating ongoing efficiencies and was going through a process to look at options, which included not reappointing some vacant roles, as well as working with staff to identify areas where it could make additional savings. There was no work underway relating to redundancies.

Niwa

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), a Crown research institute, was planning to cut its workforce by 13%.

A proposal shared with staff on Monday, April 8, detailed plans to disestablish 90 roles.

Niwa chief executive John Morgan said the cuts were needed due to a range of funding challenges.

Niwa is a Government owned environmental science institute. It also gets funding from private industry, for its work tracking climate change, weather patterns, and long range forecasts.

The organisation said it was expecting funding from “all sources” to fall.

NZQA

The NZ Qualifications Authority, which runs NCEA exams and monitors tertiary qualifications, proposed disestablishing 35 of its estimated 450 roles, on May 2.

NZ Trade and Enterprise

In October, NZTE confirmed it was disestablishing 71 roles in anticipation of “a new, lower Budget from 1 July”.

Its cost savings plan, announced last year, would save $44 million - 14% of its entire budget, the agency said.

Oranga Tamariki

Oranga Tamariki chief executive Chappie Te Kani proposed disestablishing 447 roles.

The proposal was outlined to staff on April 17, and Te Kani said it would only impact “back office” functions.

But, as Stuff reported earlier, there have been strong debates at the ministry about what exactly constitutes the “back office”.

For instance, a hiring freeze on the ministry’s legal department earned the condemnation of both the Law Society and Public Service Association. They said lawyers were working on the front line and low staffing would be “dangerous”, given they do urgent work such as securing child protection orders.

Oranga Tamariki employed about 4600 people at the end of last year.

Police

A police spokesperson said the department was working towards “a 6.5% baseline reduction from the next financial year”.

“We have submitted potential measures and proposals for how to achieve this reduction,” a spokesperson said, on April 11.

“No decisions have been made regarding a baseline reduction for Police, as these will be subject to final Budget decisions in May.”

Productivity Commission

The entire Productivity Commission, which employed 22 people, was closed in February.

Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau

The NZSIS and GCSB recently worked through a process to identify savings options across the two agencies in line with Government priorities, a spokesperson said, and responses will be considered by Ministers for Budget 2024.

“Details are subject to the usual budget confidentiality constraints. There is nothing further we can add at this time.”

Sport NZ

A Sport NZ spokesperson said it was in a new “strategic planning process” and any decisions on cost cuts would be made during that process.

Statistics NZ

In December, The Post revealed Stats NZ was disestablishing 46 roles. Of those, 29 staff were made redundant.

Te Puni Kōkiri

Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, has confirmed it has proposed an 8% reduction to staffing in response to the Government's cost cutting drive.

The ministry was asked to find savings of 6.5%.

Te Puni Kōkiri boss Dave Samuels confirmed the restructure plan with staff on April 30.

In an email, he said: 'Overall, the change document proposes to reduce Te Puni Kokiri positions to about 434 FTEs, a decrease of approximately 8% or 38 FTEs.'

Tertiary Education Commission

The PSA said the commission had confirmed it would disestablish 28 roles, of which nine were vacant.

Treasury

On Friday, April 5, the Treasury confirmed it was looking to disestablish about 50 roles - although some of those were vacant.

But a spokesperson added, “Final numbers cannot be confirmed until Budget decisions have been taken.”

The Treasury manages the Government’ finances, monitors policy and performance across the public service, and produces the Budget.

There were about 650 people working at the Treasury.

Waka Kotahi

Waka Kotahi (NZTA) is undergoing rolling restructures. On May 9, it confirmed a proposal to disestablish 12 roles from its digital team. It had been asked to find savings of 7.5%.

The PSA said those roles were coming from a team managing the Crash Analysis System. This team collected and analysed data about where, when and how crashes occurred.

'It doesn’t make sense to downgrade this important area of activity at a time when too many people are still losing their lives on our roads,' said PSA assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.

Waka Kotahi has also been winding up some projects, since the change of government. From that, 109 roles have been diseatblished.

All up, Stuff has confirmed 121 roles have been disestatblished at Waka Kotahi.

Whaikaha

Deputy chief executive of people and culture Ginny Baddeley said there were no plans for job cuts at Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People.

Work Safe

In November, Work Safe unveiled a restructure which removed one fifth of its workforce - totalling 113 roles. This is not included in Stuff’s tally of public sector job cuts, as it was finalised before the coalition Government was sworn into office.

Since then, the PSA said Work Safe had looked into further cost cutting measures.