Air NZ engineers wait for decision on their future

After more than 25 years with Air New Zealand, an avionics engineer is about to be made redundant. Or maybe not.

Following Air New Zealand's October announcement that it will outsource work from parts of its engineering division - resulting in redundancies - a final decision about the employment of the engineer and of his wider avionics team is yet to be made. He and his colleagues have waited during October, November, December and January and are still in the dark.

The engineer says while he is philosophical about probable redundancy, the uncertainty of remaining in limbo exacerbates an already difficult time. With two young children, a mortgage, and a wife, he needs to know where he stands and says Air New Zealand employees facing redundancy are being upset by rumours in the interim.

"People who want redundancy don't know if they will get it, some who were relatively new to the division have resigned, and some are negative and angry. It's a bit of a black hole [at work] at the moment," he says.

According to the engineer, the redundancy process at Air New Zealand has been marred by lack of adequate communication, and disappointment with the unions (the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and Aviation and Marine Engineers' Association) for "bending over too far" for the company.

He says Air New Zealand was employing people in engineering positions in the weeks prior to announcing redundancies and a date for announcing if and how redundancy would proceed was pushed from the February 3 to 7 without staff consultation.

"On January 10 we were meant to get our 'gloom and doom' letters but instead we had a talk from our manager saying [it would] happen in about a week," he says.

The letter, which eventually arrived dated January 16, informs the engineer that a decision on his redundancy is still pending, and provides him with an application for voluntary redundancy (which Air New Zealand reserves the right to decline). Also included is information about new positions that will be made available at Air New Zealand, deadlines for applying for these, and details of redundancy support services.

Approached last month to outline measures it will provide to help those likely made redundant, Air New Zealand declined to comment. Communications manager Pamela Wong cited the "sensitivity" of the situation and the fact that a final decision on redundancies among wide-body airframe engineers is still under consultation.

How does Air New Zealand's handling of a redundancy situation compare with other organisations? And in today's employment market, why are there redundancies at all?

Despite New Zealand's low unemployment figures and its supposedly skills-strapped employment market, valid reasons for redundancies still exist. These include mergers and acquisitions which cause a "double up" of jobs, businesses closing down, restructuring; and outsourcing work as a result of market forces, as claimed by Air New Zealand.

According to the State Services Commission, 218 public sector workers received redundancy payments last year, up from 168 in 2004. Redundancies were also faced by 45 workers at Pacific Aerospace in Hamilton, 41 at science research institution Industrial Research Limited (IRL) and around 90 across businesses under the Carter Holt Harvey umbrella last year.

While not commenting specifically on Air New Zealand, Paul Stevenson, principal consultant for Grafton Consulting Group, which provides career programmes for people facing redundancy and facilitates liaison, negotiation and out-placement programmes, says keeping employees in the dark during the redundancy process is problematic and adds to the emotional impact of redundancy.

Stevenson advocates employers keep employees as fully informed as possible and provides a trusted channel of communication to avoid false rumours spreading.

"Rationally, people understand what is happening, but the team and job they love is breaking up. Their grief is about loss - losing a team, an environment, a secure income," says Stevenson. He says a large amount of grief occurs when people have their life trotting along nicely with events such as planned holidays and funded children's education only to have an employer change those plans.

The Air New Zealand engineer can identify with that.

"I don't think Air New Zealand management realise what they've got and the amount of training we have gone through. It's intensive and constant, the staff is highly trained," he says.

Stevenson says Air New Zealand's avionics engineers probably made a conscious decision about the kind of career they would pursue some time ago, and as such may take a dim view of change.

"The first thing we do is to help people broaden their view of job options. We preface that with an understanding of their needs as far as income, career satisfaction, and career development go," says Stevenson.

The Air New Zealand engineer admits redundancy could be a positive move for him, but says his age and the need to retrain are worrying.

"Without retraining, there's not much an [unemployed] avionics engineer can do, and the chances for re-employment in the same field in New Zealand are remote," he says.

He says while one engineer has been offered a job in Switzerland looking after airbuses, international opportunities tend to be contract based and many New Zealand-based engineers don't want to become "flying spanners". "We need a clear path forward and a secure income."

Stevenson says the age factor comes up frequently and it is naive to think age does not limit a person's career options.

"There is some ageism in the market but a lot of ageism also exists [only] in the mind of the person. In a skills-short market there are a number of options for people of all ages who can demonstrate they have been able to keep learning," says Stevenson.

He says the avionics engineer could look at other industry sectors where he could apply his considerable technical skills, but also examine broader transferable skills, including team management, communication, and generic IT skills.

"Self employment may also be an option. We do a needs analysis, focus on transferable skills, then look at three or four options and the additional training and development that may be required," says Stevenson.

He says out-placement or redundancy services differ between providers and range from on-site assistance for a limited period to the outplacement provider remaining in touch with until they achieve a satisfactory outcome, usually re-employment.

"One of the first things you have to do is to give people their control back," says Stevenson.

At Air New Zealand, that goal is likely to be sought by both parties.