The Department of Conservation is facing another major shake-up, with its communications and engagement workforce potentially shrinking by more than a third as the Public Service Association warns repeated cost-cutting is stripping critical capability from the agency.
DOC has proposed reducing its Strategic Communications and Engagement team from 83 roles to 55, as part of a restructure now open for staff consultation.
Under the proposal, 33 existing positions would be disestablished and 37 new positions created, while 25 fixed-term positions would come to an end naturally and three new fixed-term roles would be established.
The PSA Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is strongly opposing the proposal, arguing it is another consequence of Government pressure to reduce public-sector spending.
PSA national secretary Duane Leo says repeated reductions across DOC are creating instability and risk leaving the department without the workforce needed to fulfil public expectations.
The union believes the latest proposal would remove important communications and engagement capability at a time when conservation issues are becoming increasingly complex.
More than media and press releases
The affected team plays a wider role than simply communicating DOC announcements.
Its staff help explain conservation programmes to the public, engage communities in conservation activity and navigate an increasingly complicated media and digital environment.
That work can become particularly important during emergencies, environmental incidents, controversial conservation decisions and programmes requiring public participation.
DOC’s responsibilities stretch across threatened species, national parks, public conservation land, biodiversity, marine environments, pest control, visitor safety and partnerships with communities.
Effective engagement can determine whether communities understand those programmes and how successfully the public participates in them.
The PSA argues reducing the team from 83 to 55 roles risks diminishing DOC’s ability to maintain those connections.
Doing more with less
The restructure comes amid wider pressure across the public service to reduce expenditure and operate with smaller workforces.
The PSA says DOC has already faced repeated reductions and rejects the idea that continually removing staff automatically produces a more efficient organisation.
Its concern is that there is a point where efficiency becomes lost capability.
The union argues agencies expected to maintain the same responsibilities with significantly fewer staff can eventually become hollowed out, leaving the remaining workforce unable to deliver services at the level New Zealanders expect.
That concern is particularly relevant for DOC because conservation pressures are not reducing alongside staffing numbers.
Aotearoa continues to confront biodiversity loss, invasive predators, climate change, extreme weather, pressures on native habitats and the enormous task of protecting threatened species.
Māori relationships also matter
For Māori, DOC’s ability to engage effectively carries another dimension.
Conservation work frequently intersects with mana whenua, iwi and hapū interests, mātauranga Māori, customary relationships with species and places, Treaty settlement commitments and kaitiakitanga.
Relationships between DOC and tangata whenua can involve some of the country’s most culturally significant whenua, wai and native species.
While the information released about the restructure does not specify which individual functions or Māori engagement responsibilities would be affected, the overall reduction raises questions about how DOC will maintain strong relationships and communication while operating with fewer people.
That will be an important issue to watch as consultation proceeds.
28 fewer roles overall
Although the restructure proposes creating new positions, the overall numbers show a significant contraction.
The Strategic Communications and Engagement team would fall from 83 roles to 55 — a net reduction of 28 positions, or roughly one-third of the current structure.
Some of that reduction would occur through fixed-term contracts ending rather than permanent employees necessarily being made redundant.
However, the PSA’s concern is ultimately about the capability disappearing from the organisation, regardless of how individual positions come to an end.
The union will support affected workers to provide feedback opposing the proposed changes.
Decision expected in September
The proposal is not yet final.
Staff consultation has opened and will continue until 7 September, providing employees with an opportunity to respond to the proposed structure.
A final decision is expected on 25 September.
That process could result in changes to the proposal before the final structure is confirmed.
But the announcement has already reignited the wider political argument over public-sector spending.
For the Government, reducing costs and creating a more efficient public service has been a major priority.
For unions, the question is what happens when successive rounds of savings begin removing the institutional knowledge, specialist expertise and workforce capacity agencies rely upon.
At DOC, that debate now involves the people responsible for helping connect conservation work with the New Zealanders, communities and organisations whose participation can be critical to its success.
The department is being asked to protect some of Aotearoa’s most precious species, landscapes and ecosystems while managing significant environmental pressures.
The question hanging over the latest restructure is whether DOC can continue delivering that mission with fewer people — or whether another round of cuts will ultimately mean less capacity to communicate, engage and bring communities alongside the conservation kaupapa.
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