High-ranked civil servants are set to be shown the door - and a redundancy cheque - as the merger of four departments takes effect.

David Smol, acting chief executive of the new Business, Innovation and Employment Ministry (Mobie), said yesterday that 39 senior management and corporate positions would be made redundant in October. Five of those positions were vacant or filled by short-term contractors.

People affected would have the chance to apply for one of eight new "tier two" positions or an as-yet-unknown number of "tier three" jobs.

"We'll be bringing four leadership teams in to one, in effect, and doing the same for the support areas across the organisation," Mr Smol said.

Mobie, announced by Prime Minister John Key earlier this year, combines the ministries of Economic Development, Science and Innovation, and the departments of Labour and Building and Housing.

The new ministry would reduce 25 second-tier managers from the previous four agencies to eight, Mr Smol said.

"Businesses and other stakeholders should start to see the benefits of the creation of Mobie over time as we progressively join up service delivery wherever there is potential to do so."

Public Service Association national secretary Brenda Pilott said the rationale for the restructuring of senior staff and the likelihood of redundancies was "always understood".

"We've emphasised the maximum redeployment that's possible and there is a clear process just trying to fit people in to jobs, with redundancy as the last option," Ms Pilott said.

Views of those affected ranged from those "who don't see themselves in a new structure" and others "who are just keen to get on with it".

All four of the departments had only just been through changes.

"There is and was a fair degree of change fatigue . . . but the general feeling . . . is that they've felt that this process has been pretty well handled and that the consultation and communication about it has been good," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News