Meridian cuts 30 Chch jobs

Thirty jobs have been slashed from the retail division of Meridian Energy's Christchurch office.

The cuts are the last phase of a major restructuring by the state-owned electricity generator and retailer.

The move will leave about 200 retail jobs, including the call centre, marketing experts and sales teams, in Christchurch, along with about another 80 employees.

Earlier cutbacks included 32 redundancies from Meridian's information technology, communications, finance and legal teams at its Wellington head office.

The restructuring, which The Press understands is expected to improve Meridian's finances by up to $160 million a year by 2012, was originally expected to lead to 150 jobs being cut and 80 new ones created.

However, spokesman Alan Seay said not all the original retailing jobs had been filled. "So this doesn't mean to say 30 people are going to lose their jobs. The new structure has been finalised, people are applying for new roles and the focus on the roles has changed."

The job cuts did not mean Meridian was reducing its sales efforts in Christchurch, he said."It reflects the fact that we are putting a lot of emphasis on the retail side of the business. If anything, it reflects its importance for the company and of getting it right."

- © Fairfax NZ News