-
Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
The Ministry of Social Development will shed around 200 jobs because of restructuring.
Ministry Chief Executive Peter Hughes says the purpose of the proposed changes is for the ministry to operate more efficiently and redirect resources to the frontline where they are needed most.
"The reality of the current economic environment is that more and more New Zealanders are accessing our services. We need to meet this additional demand by providing more resources at the frontline. This means the Ministry now needs to go faster and further in our plans to manage our costs over time."
Prime Minister John Key says the ministry is a very large employer and a large number of people are being employed there for front line duties which puts the job losses into some sort of perspective.
The announcement comes off the back of unemployment figures last week that showed the unemployment rate has risen to a six-year high of 5.0%. There are presently 115,000 people who are unemployed
Who will lose out?
Key acknowledges about 200 jobs will go.
Labour Party leader Phil Goff says the announcement shows the government isn't serious about saving jobs. He says the ministry lay-offs are around double the number of jobs the government has saved via its nine day working fortnight.
He says a lot of the affected staff will be doing jobs that are very worthwhile and the decisions could have major consequences for the frontline services provided by the ministry.
Peter Hughes says under the ministry's proposals, there will be some changes to the organisation's structure. He says with the exception of a limited number of specialist roles, no frontline jobs would be affected under the proposals.
"Most of the changes we are proposing affect managers, staff working in the ministry's head office or administrative support roles."
Latest NZ News Video
-
ONE News Minute 9am update: May 26 (1:00)
-
Kids cough up $14m for Government (1:50)
-
Education ministry 'barbaric' (1:55)
