Ben O'Connell
ACC is set to cut 390 jobs, which equals a 9 percent reduction of its workforce. 81 of these roles are currently vacant. The organisation wasn’t given a savings target from the Government but was asked to “deliver material savings.” This translated to the decision to cut operational costs by 6.5 percent over the next financial year.
Chief executive Megan Main said the organisation is also proposing to invest in a handful of new roles. “We’re also proposing to invest in 65 new roles that support the delivery of our services to New Zealanders, and our Board has also endorsed a plan to reinvest some of the proposed savings in approximately 250 additional client-facing roles. The exact nature of these roles is yet to be finalised,” she said. In sum, 325 ACC jobs will be lost.
The ACC was focusing on efficiency by removing duplication and limiting spending. Client-facing teams won’t be affected by the cuts. “We are committed to ensuring this process does not negatively impact our ability to deliver our core services of injury prevention and supporting people if they’ve had an accident,” Megan Main said.
Over 4000 public sector roles have been cut. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said all government ministries and agencies had been told to find between 6.5 and 7.5 percent in savings. The Department of Conservation is halving its Chatham Islands workforce.
The Ministry of Health is cutting half its workforce, around 180 jobs. The Ministry of Primary Industries; over 200 job cuts. Department of Internal Affairs; 28 job cuts. Ministry for Pacific Peoples; almost half its staff, over 60 roles. Kainga Ora; over 150 roles.
The list goes on; NIWA (indeed, not in the public sector), the Ministry of Social Development, the Commerce Commission, the Ministry of Transport, Treasury, and more are impacted.
In line with job cuts, applications have more than doubled in March and April compared to 2023, says international recruitment firm Robert Walters.
Data showed a 112 percent increase in job application interest, and a 179 percent increase in Auckland.
The Public Service Association (PSA) has expressed alarm over the job cuts. On ACC, the PSA has said that the proposal to shed 309 jobs, including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs, at a time when the number and cost of injuries are rising, is particularly alarming.
“ACC is a unique, world-leading no-fault compensation scheme and the envy of many other countries,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, Assistant Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, Aotearoa. “It makes no sense to propose these cuts, particularly as our working-age population is increasing. This is just more dumb stuff forced on ACC by the Government’s spending cuts. We will all pay the price for years to come with more accidents, injuries and harm.
Major cuts to the Injury Prevention teams are of note. “This is an absolutely vital area dealing with workplace safety, prevention of sexual violence, and road safety,” Fitzsimons said in a press release Thursday. “This work is all about ensuring accidents and injuries don’t happen in the first place. A government so focused on reducing costs and ‘better outcomes’ should be investing more in these areas, not less.
“ACC can’t possibly do better with fewer staff particularly when stress on the organisation is growing. All the evidence points to investment in injury prevention reducing harm and being the best value for money.
“ACC told the new Minister the ‘financial sustainability of the Scheme [for managing personal injury] is under pressure…With ongoing growth in claims volumes each year, it is more important than ever that ACC focuses on providing the right support at the right time for clients’.
“It makes no sense to cut so many jobs when the organisation is already under so much pressure to look after those who are injured and given the priority to help prevent injury in the first place.
“ACC’s purpose under its legislation is to manage personal injuries, ‘minimising both the overall incidence of injury in the community, and the impact of injury on the community.’
“How can cutting so many jobs meet this purpose? This is a government which seems determined to make the lives of working New Zealanders worse – we have already seen the axing of Fair Pay Agreements, the real reduction in minimum wages and the extension of 90-day fire-at-will trials to all workers. Today’s cuts are another attack on working people.”
Final decisions will be announced on 26 June, and the new structure is proposed to be in place on 9 September.