Post by fyl on May 25, 2012 11:56:29 GMT 12
From Stuff..
www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6986134/Defence-redundancies-cost-more-than-8m
Defence redundancies cost more than $8m
The New Zealand Defence Force has paid out up to $8.2 million to make more than 200 people redundant in the past year - 16 times the amount of money it saved by cutting the military bands.
More than half of those let go had served for more than 20 years.
Figures released under the official Information Act show 212 people lost their jobs to defence restructuring between March 1 last year and February 29 this year, and more were expected to have lost their jobs since then.
The Civilianisation Project saw 305 jobs identified as "non-deployable", and those that previously held those jobs in uniform were free to re-apply for them as civilians.
Of those, 80 people regained their jobs while 212 were made redundant and their roles went to other civilians. 132 positions had been left either "unfilled" or would be disestablished once natural attrition saw the positions left empty.
A further 685 people left the service voluntarily between August 2011 and January 2012 last year, amid claims morale in the New Zealand military had reached an all-time low.
Despite this, the Defence Force is still looking to fill vacancies with personnel from overseas.
In March, it confirmed it would scrap seven of its 10 military bands, saving $520,000 a year.
According to defence records, those made redundant were paid out between $7.1 million and $8.3 million. More than half of those were in the top payout bracket and received between $45,000 and $50,000 each.
NZDF refused to release the ranks of those who lost their jobs, saying it would be a breach of privacy.
"Many of the personnel receiving redundancy payments were the only persons of particular ranks to receive a payment, or one of two."
Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said while it seemed like a big cost, it would be either offset or made neutral with savings gained over the next two years.
"It will save between $350 to $400 million dollars by 2014/15 [savings outlined in the Defence white paper]. Every dollar saved is returned to the Defence Force for future equipment and operations. This Budget noted the savings for this year is $142 million, all redirected into the Defence Force.
"As part of the process there were some changes last year where some non-deployable uniformed back office positions were transformed into civilian positions. During the process there have been 212 redundancies. To keep this in context there are approximately 12,000 employees."
In a second phase of restructuring this year, another 100 jobs have been identified for disestablishment, but only through natural attrition.
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"The money spent on redundancy payments is set by the obligations and legal requirements the NZDF faces as a responsible employer. On current advice only two people paid redundancy were re-employed, of which one was on a short term contract."
The other Coleman referred to was employed as a uniformed leader of the Limited Service Volunteer Company and not technically an employee of the Defence Force.
Labour's Defence spokesman, Iain Lees-Galloway, said the civilianisation project had failed to achieve what it set out to.
"The civilianisation project has been an abysmal failure as a cost cutting exercise. Defence heads have asked the government to re-think as the impact it's had on morale has been terrible.
"They've told the minister that civilianisation needs to stop and he needs to pause and consider whether what he's doing is actually worth it."
He said the restructuring exercise made little sense when compared with what has actually been gained.
"When you consider that's about 16 times as much as what they saved by cutting the bands, it shows just how costly change for the sake of change can be.
"Its something we have seen right across Jonathan Coleman's portfolios, he's very keen on structuring so as to appear to be making them seem efficient, and it always costs more than what's anticipated but at the same time creates no positive outcomes."
One soldier said stories within the media regarding the current attrition rate were only "scratching at the surface" and answers provided by politicians and senior military leadership were smoke and mirrors.
"Current attrition is not decreasing and many are disillusioned," he said.
The soldier said the creation of a new unit, had ripped the heart out of one of the army's oldest regiments.
"The army is restructuring and as part of that process is the creation of a third manoeuvre unit, Queens Alexandra Mounted Rifles. In standing this unit up 1 RNZIR [First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry] is being gutted.
"Within the last few months I have heard of in excess of 80 people from 1 RNZIR notifying of their intent to seek release. This doesn't even include those deployed overseas who have submitted their release papers."
He said "penny pinching" within the defence force had left soldiers disillusioned, and there was a "massive degradation" in their working conditions.
"This is in addition to no pay rises within the last four years. The cost of living continues to go up and soldiers are asked to 'suck it up'. For those trying to get ahead in life and look after their families, the military is not the path to take."
- © Fairfax NZ News
www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6986134/Defence-redundancies-cost-more-than-8m
Defence redundancies cost more than $8m
The New Zealand Defence Force has paid out up to $8.2 million to make more than 200 people redundant in the past year - 16 times the amount of money it saved by cutting the military bands.
More than half of those let go had served for more than 20 years.
Figures released under the official Information Act show 212 people lost their jobs to defence restructuring between March 1 last year and February 29 this year, and more were expected to have lost their jobs since then.
The Civilianisation Project saw 305 jobs identified as "non-deployable", and those that previously held those jobs in uniform were free to re-apply for them as civilians.
Of those, 80 people regained their jobs while 212 were made redundant and their roles went to other civilians. 132 positions had been left either "unfilled" or would be disestablished once natural attrition saw the positions left empty.
A further 685 people left the service voluntarily between August 2011 and January 2012 last year, amid claims morale in the New Zealand military had reached an all-time low.
Despite this, the Defence Force is still looking to fill vacancies with personnel from overseas.
In March, it confirmed it would scrap seven of its 10 military bands, saving $520,000 a year.
According to defence records, those made redundant were paid out between $7.1 million and $8.3 million. More than half of those were in the top payout bracket and received between $45,000 and $50,000 each.
NZDF refused to release the ranks of those who lost their jobs, saying it would be a breach of privacy.
"Many of the personnel receiving redundancy payments were the only persons of particular ranks to receive a payment, or one of two."
Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said while it seemed like a big cost, it would be either offset or made neutral with savings gained over the next two years.
"It will save between $350 to $400 million dollars by 2014/15 [savings outlined in the Defence white paper]. Every dollar saved is returned to the Defence Force for future equipment and operations. This Budget noted the savings for this year is $142 million, all redirected into the Defence Force.
"As part of the process there were some changes last year where some non-deployable uniformed back office positions were transformed into civilian positions. During the process there have been 212 redundancies. To keep this in context there are approximately 12,000 employees."
In a second phase of restructuring this year, another 100 jobs have been identified for disestablishment, but only through natural attrition.
Ad Feedback
"The money spent on redundancy payments is set by the obligations and legal requirements the NZDF faces as a responsible employer. On current advice only two people paid redundancy were re-employed, of which one was on a short term contract."
The other Coleman referred to was employed as a uniformed leader of the Limited Service Volunteer Company and not technically an employee of the Defence Force.
Labour's Defence spokesman, Iain Lees-Galloway, said the civilianisation project had failed to achieve what it set out to.
"The civilianisation project has been an abysmal failure as a cost cutting exercise. Defence heads have asked the government to re-think as the impact it's had on morale has been terrible.
"They've told the minister that civilianisation needs to stop and he needs to pause and consider whether what he's doing is actually worth it."
He said the restructuring exercise made little sense when compared with what has actually been gained.
"When you consider that's about 16 times as much as what they saved by cutting the bands, it shows just how costly change for the sake of change can be.
"Its something we have seen right across Jonathan Coleman's portfolios, he's very keen on structuring so as to appear to be making them seem efficient, and it always costs more than what's anticipated but at the same time creates no positive outcomes."
One soldier said stories within the media regarding the current attrition rate were only "scratching at the surface" and answers provided by politicians and senior military leadership were smoke and mirrors.
"Current attrition is not decreasing and many are disillusioned," he said.
The soldier said the creation of a new unit, had ripped the heart out of one of the army's oldest regiments.
"The army is restructuring and as part of that process is the creation of a third manoeuvre unit, Queens Alexandra Mounted Rifles. In standing this unit up 1 RNZIR [First Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry] is being gutted.
"Within the last few months I have heard of in excess of 80 people from 1 RNZIR notifying of their intent to seek release. This doesn't even include those deployed overseas who have submitted their release papers."
He said "penny pinching" within the defence force had left soldiers disillusioned, and there was a "massive degradation" in their working conditions.
"This is in addition to no pay rises within the last four years. The cost of living continues to go up and soldiers are asked to 'suck it up'. For those trying to get ahead in life and look after their families, the military is not the path to take."
- © Fairfax NZ News
