Return of the ‘consultocracy’ – how cutting public service jobs to save costs usually backfires

<https://theconversation.com/return-of-the-consultocracy-how-cutting-public-service-jobs-to-save-costs-usually-backfires-218990>

"It has been clear that change is coming to the New Zealand public service
since the election campaign. Just what impact that change will have is less
easy to predict now the new government is installed.

As part of its hundred-day action plan, the National Party initially pledged to
“start reducing public sector expenditure by 6.5% on average” by cutting
“back-office spending not critical to frontline services”.

While the phrase “start reducing” was ambiguous, one estimate put likely losses
at around 6,500 full-time jobs. ACT Party leader David Seymour was more
forthright, declaring an “absolute top” figure of 15,000 public service jobs
could be at risk.

The final coalition government plan seems to have changed considerably,
however, with the policy being to “start reducing public sector expenditure,
including consultant and contractor expenditure”.

While the scale is considerably less clear, now is the time to ask what the
effects of these potentially drastic cuts might be. History and overseas
experience suggests they will not necessarily lead to the outcomes the
government intends, for a number of reasons."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics