‘Grim’ feeling at MOH as staff face job losses
Meeting room walls have been papered over in one ministry, while the reach of hundreds of job cuts becomes clearer at another, as the Government’s public sector axe begins to swing.
A staff member said a “grim” feeling was hanging over the Ministry of Health as a proposal swung into motion to slash staff numbers by 25% to meet Government target cost savings targets.
The proposal is expected to affect about 180 staff.
Staff whose positions are proposed to be affected began to receive invitations on Tuesday to meetings which were happening yesterday and today, Geoff Short, the ministry’s transformation management office director said.
A staff member said that walls on meeting rooms had been covered with paper, and the mood was heavy.
“It’s grim, but that’s not surprising.” They said some affected staff may be facing different reporting lines or job titles, not necessarily redundancy.
Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati was due to release an organisational change proposal in an all-staff meeting yesterday, which is when consultation began.
Consultation will run for just over three weeks, ending on April 26.
Final decisions won’t be known until June 30.
“This is a difficult time for ministry staff and they will need the time to review the change proposal privately,” Short said.
Staff were updated on the ministry’s work to find its 6.5% savings and how it could affect the workforce at a meeting on March 8.
Meanwhile, the reach of cuts at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is becoming clearer, with Fisheries and Food Safety now also confirmed to be affected.
MPI’s Director-General Ray Smith has said a total net reduction of 384 positions is planned, 40% of which are vacant. The updated proposed affected areas so far include:
■ Biosecurity: 131 staff disestablished, net
loss of 131
■ Agriculture and Investment: 83 staff
disestablished, net loss of 80
■ Policy and Trade: 49 staff disestablished,
net loss of 56
■ Food Safety: 14 staff disestablished, net
loss of eight
■ Fisheries: 22 staff disestablished, net loss
of 12
■ Forest Service: 20 staff disestablished, net
loss of 27
■ Māori Partnerships and Investment :14 staff disestablished, net loss of 14
The total losses across those seven teams, including vacancies, is 462. MPI has proposed 134 new roles across those teams, leaving a net loss of 328. The remaining numbers are expected to be in other teams such as compliance, building services and public affairs.
The consultation period was due to end on April 9, but has been extended to April 18, MPI’s people and capability director Kaye Ryan said. This was to provide staff with more time to consider the proposals and provide their feedback.
Final decisions are still expected by midMay 2024, Ryan said. “Importantly, we will seek to place as many affected people as possible into alternative roles.“
Ryan said no reductions were proposed for frontline services and statutory roles, such as vets, animal welfare, fishery and food compliance officers, or biosecurity teams at the border.
At the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) 111 people who took voluntary redundancy left on March 31, and a second round of voluntary redundancies is under way.
This second round was offered to staff in the digital and data group and the employment services branch of Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery, MBIE’s deputy secretary of corporate services, finance and enablement, Richard Griffiths said.
MBIE was working to “streamline” while working to make sure it could still fulfil the Government’s priorities, meet the 7.5% savings target, and maintain services to the public.
Since early December, MBIE had been disestablishing vacancies and had a hiring freeze in place.
At least 77 people have also lost their jobs due to specific stop work notices and government legislation repeal, Griffiths said.
This included six roles connected to the Lake Onslow Battery Project, 25 roles relating to the Construction Sector Accord ITP and 46 positions connected to the Regional Skills Leadership Group.