Fonterra is axing 523 jobs in the first part of a major review of its business, saving the dairy giant up to $60million a year.
Last month, the co-operative said hundreds of jobs were likely to go as part of the review which began last December.
Fonterra, which has been in the spotlight this year amid plunging global dairy prices and declining payouts for suppliers, has more than 18,500 staff globally and 11,500 in New Zealand.
Yesterday, chief executive Theo Spierings confirmed consultation had been completed with its central procurement, finance, information services, human resources, strategy and legal teams.
The job losses would be across Fonterra's global operations, with the bulk of the cuts at its finance and procurement hubs in New Zealand, Singapore and Australia.
The announcement came on a horror day for farmers as GlobalDairyTrade auction results fell to a six-year low, and the New Zealand dollar dipped to its lowest level in five years. Dairy prices are now 41% lower than they were last year.
Calls for the Reserve Bank to cut its official cash rate next week also grew louder.
A Fonterra spokesperson could not be contacted to talk about whether the job cuts affected any staff in the South.
The one-off cost of cutting the 523 jobs would be $12million to $15million, while the co-operative expected ongoing payroll savings of about $55million to $60million a year.
Next month, Fonterra would begin consultation on new business structures.
The affected roles included administration, sales-ingredients, consumer, marketing, research and development, communications, health and safety, food safety and quality, group resilience and risk, property, procurement and change management.
Mr Spierings said while the news had been unsettling for those affected, the co-operative had to change if it was to remain strongly competitive.
''Reducing the number of roles in our business isn't about individual complacency; it is about continually improving the way we deliver performance.''
Federated Farmers dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard said top management should leave if results did not start improving in the next couple of years.
He hoped the job losses were part of a wider strategy to redirect resources in new areas rather than a quick reaction to cut costs.
''Fonterra has had a history of knee-jerk reactions like that where it gets rid of a whole bunch of people and then two years later hires them back again, or rather having got rid of people with institutional knowledge, they hire new graduates who can't do as good a job,'' he said.
- Additional reporting BusinessDesk
