The Government's austerity measures are taking a toll on public servants’ wellbeing and their ability to deliver effective public services, a new PSA survey has found.
More than 4,000 workers in public services, health, the state sector, local government, and community services responded to the survey.
Key findings:
- Over half of respondents have too much work to do everything well
- More than 90% have been affected by restructuring
- More than 40% regularly work longer hours without pay
- 70% respond to work calls and messages outside of work hours
- Over half are worried about losing their job
Workers say the Government’s sweeping funding cuts are undermining their ability to do a good job. One health professional said it feels “like you are doing a disservice to people in our community as we cannot deliver the health care that they need with our waitlist and restricted service provision.”
A respondent at a community organisation that’s had its funding significantly cut by the Government said they now spend more time chasing funding and less time providing services to the community.
“It’s obvious now that the Government’s claim that ‘no front-line services will be affected’ is a lie,” said Duane Leo, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi. “No amount of spin will stop the public from seeing that the Government is deliberately underfunding their public services and setting the table for private shareholders to enrich themselves from people’s needs.”
The survey also shows that, like most of the country, public sector, health and community workers are struggling with cost-of-living pressures. More than half are worried about becoming unemployed and not being able to find a job, as the Government signals cuts will continue.
Public sector, health and community workers need more certainty and better management support. They want fair treatment, better pay, career progression and to be valued. Most of all, they want the restructuring and disruption to stop, to allow them to get on with the work of delivering for their communities.
“Public, health, and community services – and the workers that provide them – are part of a future that works for everyone in Aotearoa,” said Leo. “To get that, they need certainty, resources, leadership, and a vision for effective, universal services. This survey shows the Government isn’t providing any of this. It’s part of a mountain of evidence that this Government wants a country for the wealthy few, rather than the many.”
ENDS
About the survey
The PSA conducted the survey in December 2024 and got 4090 responses from members across the country, working in public services, health, the state sector, local government, and community public services.
Read the full report of the survey below.
Related documents
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PSA Workload survey report 2025 Adobe Acrobat PDF file | 358 KB
