Public servants 'exhausted' after job cuts, more redundancies to come

While thousands of public service jobs have been slashed in the past year, there are big cuts to come - and those who have kept their jobs say they are exhausted dealing with the workload.

At the beginning of the year, Finance Minister Nicola Willis outlined a plan to reduce annual public service spending by $1.5 billion, asking all government departments to identify savings.

It came amid tough economic times, and followed a 34 percent rise in the number of public servants under the former Labour government, between 2017 and 2023.

Nearly 40 organisations were given a specific target.

But the impact of the government's belt-tightening has reached far wider than that.

RNZ's tally of jobs gone so far - or proposed to go - sits at more than 7000.

How it's played out so far - and what's to come

In October, RNZ asked every ministry, department, crown entity, crown agent, departmental agency and crown research institute (113 in total) whether they had made cuts - and whether any restructures had been completed.

While Willis gave 37 organisations specific savings targets, 56 had since scaled back their workforce as budgets shrank.

For about 70 percent of those, that process is complete, new structures are in place, and those made redundant have left their buildings. But there is more to come.

Organisations still consulting on proposed changes include big departments employing thousands like the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Department of Internal Affairs, the Defence Force and Te Whatu Ora.

Some of those would continue into next year.

Bucking the trend was Inland Revenue, which grew by 360 staff - or 9 percent of its workforce - in the last financial year.

"This planned growth helps to ensure we can meet current and future customer needs and support government priorities," it said.

"We also had a range of initiatives announced in the Budget to implement, including additional compliance work, baseline savings, FamilyBoost, personal income tax threshold changes, Offshore Gambling Duty, and also the bright line test for property change announced last December."

Public servants 'exhausted'

Some public servants who managed to keep their jobs - like a staffer from the Ministry for the Environment, who RNZ has agreed not to name - said they were worn out.

"Even if you do still have a job ... I don't know if 'survivor's guilt' is the right word," he said.

"No matter what outcome for you personally has been, it's been a super challenging and turbulent time and trying to ... deliver work under that, is pretty tricky to say the least."

Leadership had tried their best to manage workload expectations, and people were just trying to push through to Christmas, he said.

"In terms of outlook, I think it is actually quite positive where, what people have really been lacking the past 18 months is certainty and now we have that ... sometimes it's better the devil you know, I think."

The ministry's people and culture general manager Tracey Kaio said it was supporting staff who needed it. She thanked them for their professionalism and kindness throughout the changes.

Meanwhile, a Ministry of Social Development employee, who RNZ has also agreed not to identify, said there were far fewer staff trying to keep up the same workload.

That was taking a toll, which they had been telling the union, he said.

"Always one of the main questions is, 'what is the workload like? Are people handling it, or not?' And I would have to say no," he said.

"I think everybody is quite exhausted.

"The thing that makes a lot of our staff show up is just care for community, right? It's care for people, we really care about the people in front of us, and we don't hire people who don't care about our clients or care about the public. So that always takes precedence.

"Unfortunately, I feel like we've been capitalising on the compassion of our kaimahi."

It was not just the job cuts that hurt, he said.

"Just little stuff like losing the nice kind of coffee, or no filter coffee, or no colour printing, they seem like silly little things, but it does make a difference."

The Ministry of Social Development's people and capability deputy chief executive Nadine Kilmister said it was doing its part in meeting the government's financial goals, and had taken a range of measures to save costs, including reducing spending on consumables.

"We would encourage any staff who are struggling with workloads to raise this with their managers," she said.

"Our leadership team regularly engage with the PSA to discuss issues raised by members."

Fiscal discipline must continue - finance minister

While the $1.5 billion "baseline savings" had been achieved, the need for fiscal discipline did not stop at Budget 2024, Willis said.

"Departments have shown they can do more with less and this enables us to reinvest these savings in the frontline.

"This is hugely commendable, and it must continue."

But the Public Service Association's assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said the job losses had already gone too far.

"The cuts have gone far further, and far deeper, than the government signalled prior to the election," she said.

"Further cuts must be resisted and opposed, that's the message we're hearing from our members who already have workloads that are unmanageable, and see important work not being done."

The backdrop: a growing public service, and a tough economy

The government's move to tighten the public purse came in tough economic times, and following significant growth in the public service under the former Labour government.

Public Service Commission workforce statistics showed a 34 percent increase in headcount from June 2017 to June 2024.

It was increasing about 5 percent a year from 2017 to 2022. But in the year from June 2023 it rose 0.7 percent.

The Covid-19 pandemic saw a spike in public service roles as part of the response.

At the end of June 2024, there were 63,537 full-time equivalent staff - up slightly on a year prior, but down from 65,699 in December 2023.

Those numbers refer only to the public service, not the broader range of organisations comprising the public sector.

RNZ has tallied more than 7500 jobs that have gone or are proposed to go. That figure includes roles that were vacant and roles disestablished as a result of the government scrapping work programmes.

In June, Willis said she was advised the number was about half that. Media tallies included job losses outside the "baseline savings exercise", she said.

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