Post by luke6745 on Mar 8, 2012 16:40:55 GMT 12
Navy redundancies bungled, changes 'damaging'
The Defence Force made two Navy officers redundant only to have to rehire them when their positions couldn't be filled.
The lieutenant commander and chief petty officer had their roles civilianised as part of the Defence Force's moves to restructure the organisation and save $355 million by the end of the 2014/2015 financial year.
Vice Chief Defence Force Rear Admiral Jack Steer today said the officers worked in the Navy's youth development unit and Navy assessment area.
Their roles were vacant for about six weeks before the Navy was forced to rehire them because they couldn't find suitable replacements.
''We asked them to do these jobs, we needed them to do these jobs,'' he told reporters at Parliament.
''They are back in uniform and they are getting paid what they were getting paid.''
Steer admitted the Defence Force could have ''handled this better''.
The officers would be replaced by civilian workers by the middle of the year, he said.
Defence bosses today appeared before Parliament's foreign affairs select committee where MPs were told the civilisation process had been hard on personnel who were suffering from low morale and ''change fatigue''.
The Defence Force had already civilianised 304 roles and was due to civilianise another 130 but that process would now be stopped because it was ''too damaging''.
Further reductions in staff numbers would be achieved through natural attrition.
Other cost cutting measures including reducing the number of military bands from 10 to three.
Steer said there had been ''outrage'' over reducing the bands, which were part of the Defence Force and part of New Zealand culture.
- Stuff
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6544755/Navy-redundancies-bungled-changes-damaging
The Defence Force made two Navy officers redundant only to have to rehire them when their positions couldn't be filled.
The lieutenant commander and chief petty officer had their roles civilianised as part of the Defence Force's moves to restructure the organisation and save $355 million by the end of the 2014/2015 financial year.
Vice Chief Defence Force Rear Admiral Jack Steer today said the officers worked in the Navy's youth development unit and Navy assessment area.
Their roles were vacant for about six weeks before the Navy was forced to rehire them because they couldn't find suitable replacements.
''We asked them to do these jobs, we needed them to do these jobs,'' he told reporters at Parliament.
''They are back in uniform and they are getting paid what they were getting paid.''
Steer admitted the Defence Force could have ''handled this better''.
The officers would be replaced by civilian workers by the middle of the year, he said.
Defence bosses today appeared before Parliament's foreign affairs select committee where MPs were told the civilisation process had been hard on personnel who were suffering from low morale and ''change fatigue''.
The Defence Force had already civilianised 304 roles and was due to civilianise another 130 but that process would now be stopped because it was ''too damaging''.
Further reductions in staff numbers would be achieved through natural attrition.
Other cost cutting measures including reducing the number of military bands from 10 to three.
Steer said there had been ''outrage'' over reducing the bands, which were part of the Defence Force and part of New Zealand culture.
- Stuff
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6544755/Navy-redundancies-bungled-changes-damaging
