Auckland Council continues to cut staff to save costs

3:33 pm on 21 October 2020

Auckland Council is continuing to whittle down its staff, making 23 employees redundant at a cost of $1.1 million between June and September this year.

Auckland mayor Phil Goff announces the council has agreed to a budget with a 3.5 percent rates rise.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook

A report written by council management for elected members shows how - in addition to the 23 staff made redundant - the council has also slashed 129 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles between 30 June and 30 September.

Each FTE could include multiple part-timers, meaning the actual number of workers let go could be higher.

This leaves 6341 FTE remaining, but the council is set to cut about 300 FTE more by the end of the 2020/2021 financial year, estimating FTE will be around 6000 as a result of "attrition, restructuring activity and operating model changes".

Twenty-three employees have also been made redundant which cost the council $1.1m during this quarter.

At the end of last month, the council has met $78 million of its $120m savings goal, or about 500 FTE roles.

This translates to around 500 FTE, on top of 600 temporary and contract workers who lost their jobs this year.

Meanwhile, about 100 Auckland Transport staff face losing their jobs amid proposed restructuring at the council-controlled organisanation.

The council's finance and performance committee will meet tomorrow to discuss the figures further.

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