Outrage as Service NSW prepares to slash more than 100 jobs

Service NSW will slash thousands of jobs as part of a major restructure with staff furious over the mass layoffs. 

CEO Greg Wells informed staff earlier this week up to 6-0 per cent of jobs across most divisions would be slashed, 7News reported.

The state government has previously announced publicly 25 per cent of Service NSW staff would be losing their jobs.. 

The four areas affected by the job cuts are customer support, service delivery, partnerships and projects and cyber security. 

Around 125 full time roles are set to go, however the job cuts will mostly affect contractors, temporary workers and other staff. 

The agency will instead boost its online services to continue to support customers. 

Staff have lashed out at the move with some saying they are struggling to cope up with the workload. 

‘How are we supposed to do our job properly when we hang by a thread?’ one staff member said. 

The employee claimed the agency is ‘sacrificing the little people’, while those in senior positions will not be affected. 

‘Each division will keep its own director and executive director,’ the employee said. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Service NSW for comment.   

A company report found that departments at the agency, who assess eligibility claims and fraud control, would require their workforce to be reduced. 

The disaster preparation and recovery divisions would also need to cut jobs. 

The findings from the report found that the workforce could be increased during ‘large-impact crisis and disaster events’. 

Meanwhile, the service finder function will be scrapped from the digital service division, but there will be ‘minimal reductions’ to the cybersecurity department.

The Service NSW Business Bureau, which is a tailored resource for small businesses across the state who require assistance, will also be impacted. 

The Business Bureau will now provide more ‘self-service’ options to help businesses apply for support measures. 

Almost 5,000 people are employed by the agency across the state as of June 2024, while 2,860 were employed as of June 2019. 

The Public Service Association of NSW (PSA) expressed their displeasure at the redundancies.   

‘The PSA is highly concerned about the impacts of this drastic cut and will be fighting for members every step of the way,’ they said. 

‘The PSA is pushing for all options to be explored, including vacant and temporary roles being released for ongoing employment’.

A spokeswoman for the Minster of Customer Service and Digital Government Jihad Dib, told Daily Mail Australia the redundancies will not affect service centres.

‘There will be no reduction to the current number of 117 Service NSW customer service centres through this process,’ the spokeswoman said.   

‘An additional centre [is] opening in Tallawong this year to provide an extra option for people living in Sydney’s north-west’. 

The spokeswoman said most of the job cuts are being made to services that were required during the Covid pandemic when more resources were needed.

‘Many of the programs developed in response to the pandemic and natural disasters no longer require this intensive crisis support,’ the spokeswoman said. 

‘The reduction in staff will include senior executives, in line with the NSW Government election commitment’. 

The exact number of workers, who will lose their jobs, will be determined at a later date. 

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