Housing NZ tight-lipped over jobs

Housing New Zealand remains tight-lipped about possible redundancies at its Timaru office.

The service is to lay off 70 staff nationwide, but will not confirm if jobs will go in South Canterbury.

The Timaru office employs six people.

From next month, tenants and applicants will be diverted to a call centre in Wellington through an 0800 number.

The Herald tried to contact the Timaru branch yesterday, but the phone number was disconnected.

However, general manager Kay Read said all offices would remain open for reduced hours between 10am and 4pm to allow time for staff to "prepare for the changes that would improve the service".

"After April, our offices will be open for scheduled appointments for needs assessments only.

"Having an enhanced customer service centre frees up our tenancy managers to devote more of their time getting people into houses and managing tenancies more effectively," she said.

Timaru's Inland Revenue Department office stripped jobs in a major overhaul of nationwide services last June.

Sixteen positions, more than half of all staff, went.

That followed a nationwide proposal by Inland Revenue to cut so-called "virtual" jobs – those not requiring face-to-face contact – from regional communities and transferring them to metropolitan hubs.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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