NZTA to cut more than 120 positions

No government agency is immune to the slash of the job culling knife, it would seem. The New Zealand Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi, has just announced it has disestablished 100 positions. These are primarily from programmes that the coalition government has scaled back or canned altogether.

Included are positions involved in running the Clean Car Discount scheme, Climate Emergency Response Fund, and Let’s Get Wellington Moving project.

Another 12 roles in the Customer and Services and Digital teams are likely to go, as part of the government’s 7.5 percent cost cutting goal.

Further job losses within the agency are also possible. A spokesperson said “Each of our business groups is aligning resources with the available budget and priorities, ensuring a strategic and targeted approach to the changes.”

Until a fortnight ago, NZTA had 2907 permanent and fixed-term employees.

In related news, the Ministry for Primary Industries has confirmed it is cutting almost 400 positions, around 10 percent of its workforce. None of these is in frontline services.

To date, the coalition government has more than 4500 public sector jobs as part of its cost cutting initiative.