Wellington council job cuts spark backlash ahead of election

Monday, 8 September 2025

Join the discussion and have your say in the comments.

Dozens of Wellington City Council workers face an uncertain future as a major restructure proposes job losses – just weeks out from the local elections.

The Public Service Association (PSA) says it understands at least 63 roles would be disestablished across libraries, parks, recreation, city safety and digital services. Of those, 31 positions are currently vacant. Many more jobs would be significantly changed.

Affected teams include Connected Communities, Creative Capital, Parks, Sports and Recreation, Smart Council, Libraries, Archives and community spaces.

PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the scale and timing of the restructure was “deeply inappropriate”.

“At a time when there is so much concern about the future of Wellington, we oppose this major restructure, particularly so close to the council elections. It is a constitutional norm that significant work like this does not occur so close to a local election,” she said.

The union says the council is proposing to release its final decision on the restructure just three days after the election.

The proposals come amid growing political pressure on the council to rein in spending. Consultant costs have more than doubled in the past five years, while the council’s wage bill has risen 40% despite cutting more than 100 staff.

In 2020, 17 council employees were paid more than $200,000 a year. By 2024, that number had risen to 39. The total wage bill has grown from $107 million to $151m over the same period.

The capital is already reeling from wider public service job cuts, with around 10,000 positions lost in recent years.

Fitzsimons said the proposals would strip out specialist expertise, particularly in parks, recreation and city safety, and leave remaining staff with “unmanageable workloads”.

The union is also critical of the consultation process, saying workers have been given only three weeks to respond to a 216-page proposal.

“That is simply inadequate,” Fitzsimons said. “Our members are already questioning whether parts of this plan were written by AI.”

The PSA said it would write to council chief executive Matt Prosser calling for the proposals to be withdrawn, and would support affected members throughout the process.

A spokesperson for the council said: “About 30 roles are substantially impacted by the proposed change to the Council’s Customer and Community Group.

“A lot of these are at the Tier 3 and Tier 4 managerial level. Following consultation this month we will work with any staff whose roles are disestablished and who are not automatically reassigned, to explore any other opportunities available within council.”

He did not address the pre-election timing.

Voting for the October 11 poll opens on Tuesday.

Mayoral hopeful Ray Chung, also councillor for the Wharangi/Onslow-Western Ward, is among those who have called for cuts to staff and salaries as a way to control costs, putting additional political pressure on the council ahead of the election.

In June he said numbers had gone up “exponentially” adding “really, I have no idea what a lot of these people do”.

On Monday he said he was attending a meeting about the proposal on Tuesday and “always welcome anything we can do to gain efficiencies.” He was reluctant to say anything if staff hadn’t been informed.

“My understanding is that all staff involved will have other positions in council that they can fill.”

Rival Diane Calvert, also a Wharangi/Onslow-Western councillor, acknowledged the council’s need to rethink its structure and said no time was ever perfect for a restructure.

She said the organisation had grown “somewhat organically” over the past few years, and the restructure, combined with smarter use of technology and collaboration with neighbouring councils, could lead to a “more efficient and responsive organisation”.

Calvert noted Prosser had also commissioned consultants Deloitte to conduct a “wider review to ensure the organisation is set up to deliver on the priorities council sets”.

“My greater concern right now is the demolition of the City to Sea Bridge, which is irreversible and deserves more attention from other politicians and candidates,” she said.

Andrew Little, an employment lawyer, also reserved comment on the detail of the proposals.

“Through the campaign commitments I am making it’s very clear there are some changes I would like to see at council, including focusing the council on being an enabler of development and protecting community facilities,” he said.

“If elected I will work with the chief executive to follow through on my campaign commitments but I’m not in a position to comment on current internal employment decisions at the council.”

Comments are moderated during working hours and may not appear immediately.