The prime minister called the prospect of a more efficient public sector ‘exciting,’ while a union spokesman said the plan was ‘an act of willful destruction’
AP, WELLINGTON
New Zealand’s government is to lay off nearly 9,000 workers, amounting to 14 percent of public sector jobs, by mid-2029 as part of a bid to slash billions in spending, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said yesterday.Willis said her administration would also enact three consecutive years of budget cuts for most public agencies, “significantly reduce” the number of departments and demand faster uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) technology across the sector. The cutbacks would save NZ$2.4 billion (US$1.4 billion) during that period, she told a business audience in New Zealand’s biggest city, Auckland.
New Zealand Minister of Finance Nicola Willis speaks to the media as she gives an economic update at Parliament in Wellington on April 23.
Many public servants live and work in the capital, Wellington. Their numbers would be cut to 55,000, a drop of 8,700 from December last year, Willis said.That would reduce the number of public servants to 1 percent of New Zealand’s population of 5.3 million people, she added, down from 1.2 percent.
