Job losses planned at Invermay

Agresearch is proposing to shed nine staff from its Invermay campus as part of redundancy plans which could result in the Crown Research Institute Institute (CRI) cutting back its total workforce of employees by more than 40 people.

The science company's chief executive, Andy West, said he proposed making five Invermay staff redundant and relocating another four from the Invermay campus, which employs about 140 people.

Some of those being made redundant work in the field of animal reproduction and were among nine to shift south from Wellington in 2007-08 when that unit was relocated.

Dr West said the restructuring was caused by the expectation AgResearch would lose government funding for some projects, and by the need to strengthen its finances from break-even at present, to a recommended fiscal outcome of delivering a $5 million surplus.

"This is the sum of money we think we need to both reinvest in the institute and to give us enough flexibility so if we take a revenue hit, we don't have to turn around and say we have got to lose staff," he said.

Most of the redundancies will occur at its Lincoln and Ruakura campuses and Dr West said the institute's Lincoln textile testing centre was being put up for sale.

Staff being relocated from Invermay were in the area of animal growth and development, with two each proposed to shift to Lincoln and Ruakura.

Possible changes to the way the Foundation for Research Science and Technology funds science, announced by a Government task force two weeks ago, would come into effect from July 1 next year, if adopted by the Government.

In the meantime, Dr West said the current funding model, in which scientists compete for funds but which was seen as not providing long-term certainty for them, could mean further redundancies if the institute lost more funding for projects in the looming allocation round.

Dr West said demand was declining for animal science research, and as a result, so was demand for staff, but it was growing in areas of food, forage and environmental management.

AgResearch has up to 11 vacancies in these areas which Dr West said it was struggling to fill.

Staff have been told of the planned redundancies and representatives will meet over the next few weeks, with a final decision expected in the middle of April.