Twenty more jobs to go at Te Papa as restructuring continues
Friday, 15 May 2026
Te Papa has confirmed a net loss of 20 roles in its latest round of restructuring.
The national museum confirmed that 62 positions would be disestablished on Thursday, however 42 new positions would be created, according to an internal document obtained by The Post.
The museum projected savings of $968,000 a year because of the decision.
It brings to an end phase two of the museum’s significant restructure, which it embarked on in October in a bid to keep costs under control amid skyrocketing bills covering everything from power to insurance to cleaning.
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Already, in phase one of its restructure, 39 roles within Te Papa’s management were reduced to 23, representing savings of $2.4 million a year.
Thursday’s confirmed decisions bring the total net job losses across both phases to 36, and the projected savings at more than $3.3m.
“Te Papa needed to make some difficult choices to ensure we can live within our means, and deliver our work for the nation,” said the museum’s co-leaders Courtney Johnston and Arapata Hakiwai.
“We acknowledge this process has been difficult for our people, and we are grateful for their ongoing dedication and professionalism.”
Employees whose roles have been disestablished are eligible for redeployment for available new and vacant positions.
Some of the affected roles include the writing team lead (English) and writing team lead (reo Māori) positions being reduced from two to one; two te reo writers reducing to one; three learning specialists becoming two; two collections photographer positions being reduced to one; and two museum development advisers reducing to one.
Te Papa received more than 600 pieces of individual feedback and questions during the consultation periods for phase two.
“Your feedback challenged our thinking, and in a few areas, we revised our proposed changes,” the museum’s co-leaders wrote in the internal document.
“One expectation we want to make clear from the outset is that we don’t expect the same amount of work to be delivered with fewer people … While there are some areas we are strengthening, there are other areas where we expect to see a different level of service,” they wrote.
Te Papa backed down on some proposed changes, including reducing its two curators of photography to a single position, writing in the document: “There is an operational need to retain two curators in this area due to the size of the photography collection, the cross-disciplinary span of the collection, and its current use.”
That follows a letter circulating in April, asking for signatories urging that both positions be retained.
Te Papa also backed away from proposing to disestablish a project editor position with Te Papa Press, which currently only employs four staff including its publisher.
Data obtained by the E tū union and seen by The Post, shows that Te Papa has spent $669,131, excluding GST, on the restructuring as at April 16. More than $560,000 of that was for the “change team” - or external consultants.
A member survey that the union ran showed 95% of respondents had no confidence in financial management of the organisation.
One staff member speaking on the condition of anonymity said the mood had been “pretty sullen” since the restructuring began.
They said productivity had dropped, and people were concerned about the unfairness of the restructuring. They felt roles had been sacrificed, so that the museum could make a bid for increased government funding.
They said lessons did not seem to have been learned from Te Papa’s last restructure in 2019, and the net losses would invariably result in things getting done at a slower pace.
It had created a lack of trust between staff and management, they said.
Each year Te Papa receives around half its funding from the Government (about $43.57m per year, plus $3m a year for acquiring collection items), with the remainder being self-generated. But its latest statement of performance forecast a deficit of $13 after depreciation for 2025/6.
The new structure will be in place from July 1.