About 130 Woolworths New Zealand workers could lose their jobs under a proposal to shift the supermarket giant's customer care operation across the Tasman to Sydney, the Workers First union says.
Workers First Union said affected staff were called to a 1pm meeting today and told consultation had begun on the proposed closure of the New Zealand Customer Care Centre. They have until September 15 to respond.
Woolworths reported $163 million in earnings before interest and tax for the year to June 2026, an 8.8% lift on the year before.
Workers First deputy secretary Rudd Hughes said the company was treating its local staff as expendable.
"They're happy to earn big profits in our country and make Kiwis reliant on their supermarkets, but they are planning to throw away more than a hundred of our jobs to save a very small amount of money over the next three years," he said, adding many of those at risk had few options if the plan went ahead.
"Many of the Customer Care team are sole parents who work remotely and will not find redeployment or comparable employment in their regions. This proposal will be crushing to hear about today."
A Woolworths spokesperson said the proposal would explore integrating the company's customer care operations with Woolworths Group's support capability based in Sydney, using the group's scale, systems and expertise to serve Kiwi customers while supporting a simpler, more sustainable New Zealand business.
"We acknowledge proposals like this have an impact on our team and we don't take that lightly. Right now our primary focus is on supporting those team members and ensuring customers are not impacted while we consider the proposal," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said no decisions had been made and pointed to 500 new retail roles introduced in the 2026 financial year, a further 500 frontline roles forecast for 2027 and plans to open four new stores in the coming year.
"We understand that this proposal, if implemented, represents a significant change for our team. We are deeply mindful of the personal impact this transition may have," the spokesperson said, adding the company was working one-on-one with staff on feedback and redeployment.
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