TAFE jobs axed in latest public sector purge

A fresh round of sweeping job cuts have hit the NSW public sector, this time with TAFE in the firing line as more than 100 jobs are slashed.

Premier Chris Minns last week said sweeping job cuts across government should not come as a surprise. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

A fresh round of sweeping job cuts have hit the NSW public sector, this time with TAFE in the firing line as more than 100 jobs are slashed.

The job cuts, which will impact administrative staff in TAFE’s digital and product and quality divisions, are part of mass whole-of-government cuts which are seeing hundreds of staff across multiple departments lose their jobs.

Last week, Transport for NSW announced nearly 1000 jobs would be cut, while the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development will slash 165 roles.

The new cuts to TAFE will not impact teaching jobs but come at a time where mass teacher shortages have seen multiple courses become unavailable across the state.

The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that TAFE had frozen its second semester intake for a raft of critical trades such as construction due to a shortage of teaching staff.

TAFE has been hit with a fresh round of job cuts.

The new job cuts are outlined in internal documents seen by this masthead titled ‘Draft Change Management Plan’. The majority of roles that will be cut are middle management positions.

The plan, signed off by TAFE acting managing director Julie Tickle, states that “excess employees who decline the offer of voluntary redundancy and choose redeployment will be assigned a dedicated case manager” who will assist them in finding new employment.

“The proposed changes to structures will enable more streamlined ways of working, increased productivity and drive greater consistency to ensure a high quality customer experience for students and communities across NSW,” the plan states.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders said he was concerned about the effects of the staff cuts on regional communities who rely heavily on TAFE for education and training.

“It’s extremely disappointing to hear this government seems hell bent on removing any support for regional areas, and TAFE is the latest victim,” he said.

“I’ve heard directly from local teachers about the concerns they have about another restructure, and the impact it’s having on regional jobs.

“The government needs to be transparent here about the plans it has for TAFE in the regions.”

TAFE Minister Steve Whan. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

A spokesperson for TAFE NSW said 500 new roles had been added to the organisation since 2023, including teaching roles.

“TAFE NSW is changing its operating model to better align with the needs of students, industry, and communities, which includes consolidating some roles across the organisation,” the spokesperson said.

“Until the consultation, review and placement process is complete, final positions and their locations will not be known.”

Premier Chris Minns said last week that departmental cuts should come as no surprise after promising to reduce senior management roles across the board in the lead up to the 2023 election.

“We signalled reductions in headcounts for these departments going back to he first budget … there’s no nasty surprises,” he said.

“This is about managing headcount … we’re not reducing the overall headcount but we are diverting new recruits and new opportunities into front line public facing departments, police, nurses, teachers. We are open. We are hiring.”

Originally published as TAFE jobs axed in latest public sector purge