Council jobs face the axe

Alex Parmley
Alex Parmley
Nine percent of its staff and whole departments are to be axed in a "total reorganisation" of the Waitaki District Council.

At least 19 jobs will go in the move, which comes against a backdrop of financial challenges, a 13% rates rise and declining resident satisfaction.

Mayor Gary Kircher says southern councils are watching with interest as Waitaki does its "most significant rejig" since the 1989 local government reforms.

Chief executive Alex Parmley said all 211 current jobs at the council and the shape of every council department would be affected.

"A lot of roles and departments will go."

While not everyone’s job was at risk, everyone would experience change in the way they worked.

The $4million "transformation programme" would result in some roles being disestablished and many roles replaced with new and different roles within the next 12 months; it would also include upgrading IT systems and introducing digital technology.

Staff were given details in a closed-door meeting yesterday afternoon.

It followed a four-week internal consultation on the reorganisation proposal.

Mr Parmley declined to share details on the new structure until all staff were informed.

"Not everyone’s job is at risk, [but] everyone will experience change in the way they work."

The council wanted to keep staff and would be encouraging people to reapply for jobs and wanted to avoid costly, in terms of knowledge and financially, redundancies where possible.

About 12 full and part-time roles were vacant at present, which he expected would soften job losses.

Moving to "a bold new operating model" included changing staff mindset to a less "rules-based" approach.

"I think that won’t be for everyone — some people will struggle.

"It is a risky process, but there is a bigger risk in doing nothing — including service cuts."

The council clearly needed to change in line with increasing expectations — resident satisfaction ratings, for example, were down from 45% in 2022 to 35% last year, Mr Parmley said.

Gary Kircher
Gary Kircher
Mr Kircher said the restructure was not related to this year’s 13.43% rates increase, which was a reflection of broader issues, including required infrastructure improvements, but the changes would result in the council reducing costs down the line.

"It’s not tied into the rates increase, but ultimately will be about doing things more effectively, and [for] long-term operational services."

The Otago-Southland council sector was watching Waitaki’s transformation move with interest, he said.

"Different councils do restructure. This is much more than that. This a total reorganisation, far more than moving people around."

The elected council had complete faith in management regarding the "transformation".

"Transformation has always been about making us a better council, more responsive, just easier to deal with. It’s been the focus all along."

But telling staff their jobs were being disestablished was unsettling and councillors "feel for staff that feel that way".

"We want to make sure management is looking after them as best as they can — and ideally getting through the process as quickly as they can."

The PSA union yesterday confirmed it had been "fully involved with this change process".

Organiser Jon Henning said members had their say on proposed changes and the PSA was confident the council had taken their feedback into account.

"We’ll keep working productively with WDC [Waitaki District Council] on this matter.

"Like many in our communities, it’s a difficult time for our members. The outcome of this process does leave some members with their current jobs disestablished, but we’re confident WDC is making every effort to make this transformation cost-neutral in terms of jobs."

brendon.mcmahon@odt.co.nz