‘I’m terrified’: Mum on maternity leave set to lose role in NSW Government as mass job cuts begin
A new mum still on maternity leave is set to be sacked as savage job cuts at a massive employer get underway, sparking anger among staff and the union.
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A new mother currently on maternity leave from her job within a mega government department that’s about to undergo savage cuts has been told to reapply for her position or face abrupt unemployment.
Anger is growing over how the restructure of Service NSW is being carried out, as Premier Chris Minns seeks major cost savings by reducing the state’s public sector, which employs more than 450,000 people and is Australia’s biggest workforce.
Almost 5000 people work for Service NSW, the department responsible for everything from car registrations and births, deaths and marriages to emergency assistance during bushfires, floods and drought.
Hundreds of roles will be made redundant within coming months, and while a spokesperson for the Department of Customer Service initially insisted they would be predominantly temporary contractors, it now appears the majority of those being cut are permanent employees.
Staff have been kept in the dark about which roles are set to be cut, but secret internal documents leaked to news.com.au have given a worrying indication that divisions managing cyber security, digital services and even customer contact centres are in the firing line.
“This is turning into a Hunger Games,” Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little said. “Except nobody knows if they’re in the game or not, the communication has been atrocious, people are scared for their jobs … it’s causing panic.”
Customer Service Minister Jihad Dib said earlier this week that redundancies are being largely targeted at Covid-era programs that have been wound up, and that the community won’t see an impact on service delivery – a claim the union disputes.
“For the public, these cuts are going to mean longer wait times on the phone, queues out the door at Service NSW centres, and longer getting approvals for grants and licences,” Mr Little said.
New mum facing unemployment
A recent mother who’s still on maternity leave has been ordered to reapply for her job, alongside dozens of others fighting for a small pool of positions.
If she opts out of the “competitive and exhaustive” application process, the woman was told she will go into a “mobility pool” where she may be eligible for other jobs elsewhere in the public service.
“But we all know there will be way more people than available jobs,” she told news.com.au.
“And we all know that’s just a nice way of them packaging it up to keep people hopeful before dragging it out for months to quietly make us redundant.
“I’m terrified. I have a family, I have a mortgage, there aren’t many jobs out there at the moment. What do I do now?
“Who’s going to hire someone like me, coming back from leave part-time? It feels so unfair. It feels discriminatory because I’ve taken a bit of time out to be with my young children.”
Do you know more? Email shannon.molloy@news.com.au
Mr Little slammed the government’s treatment of workers, saying it has “thrown them away like a used tissue”.
“People are being asked to reapply for their own jobs, so you can imagine what that does to morale,” he said.
“Service NSW workers should be concentrating on serving the public, not panicking about finding a new job.
“The last government instigated a wage cap which meant workers slipped further and further behind, now this government is going to sack them.”
The woman on maternity leave now faces months of uncertainty and distress, made worse by how the entire process is being managed internally.
“I’ve seen restructures before during my time in government, but none have been as poorly handled as this,” she said.
Workers have also been briefed on a closed expression of interest process, in which discussing who’s applied for what is discouraged, as is feedback about the restructure process.
It’s understood those who lose their jobs have been told there’s no ground to appeal the decision.
Repeated warnings ignored
The size of the Service NSW workforce almost doubled from just before Covid to June 30 this year, with the state’s response to the pandemic seeing an explosion in hiring over recent years.
News.com.au has been told some staff expressed concern about “unsustainable” levels of recruitment at the time, instead pleading with public service executives to redeploy existing resources or to “set lower expectations”.
“Service NSW is a frontline agency. On top of that, we all worked like dogs during Covid to deliver vital programs and supports to the community,” the woman on maternity leave told news.com.au.
“To then turn around and turf people out with such a lack of care and consideration is just awful. The government promised there would be no job losses under Labor – what absolute bollocks.”
The worker said she had a simple message to deliver to Mr Dib and Mr Minns: “Just put yourself in our shoes. We’ve delivered for you when you needed us to, when the citizens of this state needed us to.”
Mr Little also described the government’s claims that roles are no longer needed because Covid schemes and grants have wound up as “spin”.
“What people don’t understand about Covid is that Service NSW started offering more services, many of which are ongoing,” Mr Little said.
“These services were never part of what they offered pre-Covid, so it’s not as simple as just saying, ‘We can ditch these staff now Covid is over’ – that’s just government spin.
“During Covid, these workers’ turned up every day to work to make sure the public could access services, doing miles of unpaid overtime because it was a crisis, and now they’ve been thrown away like a used tissue.”
Community put at risk
A leaked document outlining deep cuts within one business unit, the Projects, Partnerships and Insights division, will see 166 permanent roles cut.
Among that team’s responsibilities are disaster preparation and disaster recovery. The public service union slammed the decision to gouge such a vital function.
“After there’s a flood or bushfire, or when we’re in the midst of a pandemic, Service NSW is there, ensuring the public has access to the services they need,” Mr Little said.
“They are the front desk of the government. This is a slap in the face for people trying to recover from flood, bushfire and drought.
“If you’ve lost your house to bushfire for example, Service NSW is where you go to access emergency grants and get copies of your essential documents like a new driver’s license.”
Mr Little warned the consequences of the job cuts in the PPI will be realised when NSW has “another flood or a bad bushfire season”.
“Who will provide relief to affected communities? I mean, there are still people living in tents in Lismore following the floods [in February 2022].”
A Service NSW worker agreed, saying they feared what would happen when the next crisis hits the state.
“Of course, I don’t wish any crisis to happen, but this decision is so shortsighted and it’s just playing with people’s lives. The government has no consideration at all.”
On top of that, the indication from leaked documents that the cyber security division has been earmarked for job cuts should worry every citizen in NSW, Mr Little said.
“One of the areas we’re most concerned about is the cyber security team. We need more people, not less, making sure hackers don’t steal the public’s licence details and other official information.”
The Department of Community Service did not respond to a new request for comment for this story.
However, earlier in the week, a spokesperson said: “Service NSW acknowledges this is a stressful time for many of our staff and their families and is making every effort to ensure people are supported.
“This includes access to free and independent counselling as well as coaching and support to search and apply for other roles.
“The restructure will be rolled out in stages and different teams and business units will be impacted at different times.
“Service NSW has commenced consultation with staff and unions on the first stage of the new proposed organisational structure, with final numbers yet to be confirmed.
“It is expected that once the restructure is complete, the majority of role reductions are anticipated to be achieved through attrition and ending contractor and temporary worker roles and is subject to consultation.
“Service NSW will also be reducing senior executives by 15 per cent in line with the government’s target.”
Originally published as ‘I’m terrified’: Mum on maternity leave set to lose role in NSW Government as mass job cuts begin
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