1000 jobs slashed at Transport for NSW

Nearly 1000 staff will be cut from Transport for NSW, in a move that sent shockwaves through the department on Wednesday morning. The RTBU warned the cuts would impact frontline services.

Nearly 1000 staff will be cut from Transport for NSW, in a move that sent shockwaves through the department on Wednesday morning.

Sweeping job cuts at Transport for NSW were necessary to slash the agency’s bloated bureaucracy and are “unrelated” to a massive pay boost for train drivers, Transport staff from Secretary Josh Murray said.

He said 950 jobs are at risk of being axed over the next six months, as part of department-wide restructure first revealed by The Daily Telegraph last year.

The cuts will not impact frontline roles delivering services to commuters.

“This is about our corporate and backroom roles,” Mr Murray said.

He said the restructure is part of a bid to save $600 million in office costs, “to refocus on public transport services”.

He said the 950 roles set for the axe are the “final part” of the structural reform which began last year.

That restructure, leaked to the Telegraph last February, aimed to “reduce duplication” and put “fewer people at the top, and more people at the operational level,” Mr Murray said at the time.

He said the cost-saving measure was not a result of big pay rises given to drivers as part of wage negotiations.

Josh Murray, Secretary of Transport for NSW.. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

“We have to get back to a model that is sustainable for the long term, delivers on our commitments, and provides appropriate career paths for our people,” Mr Murray said in the email.

“That also means reducing duplication, removing unclear reporting lines, and ensuring all our people are clear on what’s expected of them.

“I know this news will be unsettling for many of you. Change of this scale is never easy, and it affects all our people, their work, their teams, and their sense of certainty about the future.”

It is understood no front line service roles will be cut in the restructure.

An extra 3000 workers had been hired during and after the COVID period.

In the email, Mr Murray said the cuts would be across all divisions in the department in order “to get back to a model that is sustainable in the long term”.

He said over the last five years an extra 3000 workers had been hired during and after the COVID period.

Mr Murray said the cuts would also mean “reducing duplication, removing unclear reporting lines, and ensuring all our people are clear on what’s expected of them”.

Transport Minister John Graham said the cuts would be hard for staff.

“Change of this nature is difficult and we thank all staff at Transport for NSW for accepting these important changes to set the department up for the future on a more sustainable footing,” he said.

“Labor promised to prioritise the frontline services that help people across the state get around every day and this is part of that funding rebalance.”

Upon winning government in 2023 Premier Chris Minns launched a major review of the state’s bureaucracy with the view to slashing the number of senior executives.

Opposition Transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said she believed the “brutal cuts” were done in order to pay for the latest wage deal with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU).

“These are the brutal cuts that pay for the union wage deals. The people being sacked are not senior bureaucrats—they’re the engine room of the Department, and their mistake was not joining the RTBU,” she said

“These decisions send a clear message: under Labor, it’s union first, commuters second.”

State Shadow Minister for Roads Natalie Ward. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Prior to the review, Labor’s election commitment was to reduce public-sector executive roles by 15 per cent.

Transport for NSW has around 15,000 staff with a further 15,000 people employed across front line services.

Only office staff are in the firing line for cuts.

RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes warned the cuts would impact frontline services.

“You can’t possibly axe 1000 jobs from an organisation charged with overseeing our transport network without seeing some frontline impact,” he said

“Thousands of Transport for NSW workers and their families are now all facing the shocking realisation that it could be their job on the chopping block.”

But Mr Murray maintained the cuts were essential.

“From 2021 to 2023, Transport for NSW added an average of two new senior executive roles every week, and a 30 per cent increase in senior management and award staff. That level of growth would be unsustainable in any sector,” he said.

“ Every dollar saved from our costs is a dollar for schools, hospitals, police or frontline public transport and roads, so we must build our budgets carefully.”

Originally published as 1000 jobs slashed at Transport for NSW