Back-office roles down by 6.5%, while frontline roles grew 6.9%
The number of frontline employees in New Zealand has gone up despite a nearly five per cent decline in the overall number of public service workers in the country.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the size of New Zealand's public service is down to 62,654 full-time equivalents (FTEs) as of June 30.
In the two years to June, the size of back-office employees declined by 6.5%, equivalent to a reduction of 2,345 FTEs, in areas such as policy analysts, clerical, as well as administrative roles and managers.
However, the estimated number of frontline roles grew 6.9%, or 1,883, during the same period.
"The emphasis has shifted following Government direction to prioritise savings in back-office functions while protecting and improving frontline services," Collins said in a statement.
In the past year, 1,533 redundancies were carried out in the government, with redundancy payments reaching $80.4 million.
"Redundancy costs need to be seen in the context of overall savings, with public sector costs reducing by $1.5 billion a year – savings which are ongoing," Collins said.
Contractors, consultancy spending down
Meanwhile, New Zealand's spending on contractors and consultants also decreased by $915 million in the past two years.
This is double the government's savings target of $400 million.
"I have made clear the Government's expectation that contractor and consultant spending be kept below the new lower level of $1.25b across the public sector," Collins said.
"These changes are about delivering better value for money and ensuring the public service is focused on delivering the services New Zealanders need and which make a difference in their lives."
