Subj : Nearly 300 MBIE jobs cut this year, more roles soon under fire
To   : All
From : News
Date : Thu Apr 11 2024 11:59 am

Nearly 300 jobs have gone at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment (MBIE) since the start of the year as the mega ministry warns
there's more to come.

The ministry revealed it shed another 175 roles this morning, on top of
accepting applications for 111 voluntary redundancies in March - the first
round of offers expected.

In the first three months of this year, 286 jobs were removed from MBIE's
systems, including voluntary redundancies, stop work notices, and removing
vacant positions.

Eighty-seven of the scuppered roles came from disestablishing functions, stop
work notices, and the Government repealing legislation.

MBIE's overall headcount is around 6500 people, making it one of the largest
public sector agencies.

Before the election, now-government coalition partner ACT called for the
ministry's headcount to be slashed by up to a half.

Applications for a second round of voluntary redundancies have closed this
week, according to a MBIE spokesperson. In addition, multiple parts of the
agency are currently undergoing consultation for re-structuring.

MBIE's deputy secretary of corporate services, finance and enablement Richard
Griffiths signalled more re-structuring proposals were on the way for staff.

"As shared previously, we have provided options to our ministers to meet the
savings targets and decisions from this are subject to the Budget 2024
process," they said.

"Further formal change processes are likely as we work to streamline and
achieve further efficiencies.

"Retention of the appropriate levels of specialised skills and capability
will enable us to continue to deliver to the scale and breadth of the
government's work programmes and maintain service delivery to New Zealanders."

The job losses come after the Government directed departments to find up to
7.5% in cost savings.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis argues the cuts are part of a pre-election
commitment to cut waste and restore financial discipline. The opposition and
critics say the cuts will affect frontline services and are being used to
fund promised tax cuts.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/02/04 (Windows/64)
 * Origin: S.W.A.T.S BBS Telnet swatsbbs.ddns.net:2323 (63:10/102)

.