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."
Ministry for Culture and Heritage proposes cuts
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has revealed it is currently consulting with its staff about a "change proposal".
It is proposing that its FTE reduce to 150 — a reduction of 7%.
The ministry currently has 161 FTE, while its reported FTE in 2023 was 184.
"Included in this are a number of fixed term positions that have ended or are due to end by 30 June 2024 as they relate to time limited work that is coming to an end," the ministry's Stacey Richardson said.
"We will not provide any further comment while we are consulting with our staff. No decisions have been made."
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.
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