- Redundancy costs total nearly $50m so far - highest since 2010
- Sick leave jumps to record levels
Annual workforce data provides a sobering snapshot of the damage the Government’s cost cutting drive is inflicting on public services and workers.
The directive by the incoming government last year to cut costs and jobs has seen thousands of public service workers sacked or take voluntary redundancy.
But the data for the June year from Te Kawa Mataaho released today does not yet capture the full cost in jobs lost and redundancy paid out by taxpayers.
"This is such a sad snapshot of the damage being done to public services," said Kerry Davies National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
"We know there is much worse to come as the full picture of the Government’s reckless and poorly thought through cuts becomes clearer."
The data shows taxpayers shelled out $48.8m in redundancy payments for 865 workers, driven by cuts at MBIE, Social Development, Statistics NZ and across the public service. This is the highest payout since 2010 when the last National-led government down-sized the public service.
"Based on what we know to date in terms of cuts, it’s likely that the cost to taxpayers will grow to the hundreds of millions of dollars, and to what end? That’s money that could be invested in our health system which is struggling to meet the health needs of New Zealanders right now.
"This is just more evidence the Government has got its priorities all wrong.
"The bill will also grow from here as the Government has made clear its plan to continue its ideological obsession with cutting the size of the public service.
"The cost to New Zealand will be even higher as the public service is stripped of resources and skilled workers to meet the health needs of Kiwis, to support small businesses, to secure our borders and to meet the challenges of climate change and infrastructure."
The data also shows the toll that restructuring is having on workers. Sick leave was at record levels in the June year with an average of 10.2 days taken off.
"Change is hard on workers - it causes huge stress for them and their families and disrupts the delivery of public services. This toll is only going to rise sadly.
"However, it is heartening to see the gender pay gap continuing to fall and that it remains well below that of the private sector. That partly reflects the past Government’s commitment to improve pay for those on lower and middle incomes, many of whom are women and the great leadership shown by the public sector.
"We hope this government’s austerity drive and the forcing of departments to meet wage increases out of base lines doesn’t turn back this hard-won progress. It’s particularly important with 62% of public service workers being female."
ENDS
