The PSA's Fleur Fitzsimons fears women will bear the brunt of public sector cuts.
The PSA's Fleur Fitzsimons fears women will bear the brunt of public sector cuts.
Men working in the public sector on average earn 7.1 per cent more than women. Azaria Howell reports the Government is yet to front on how it’ll continue to bring the public sector pay gap down, amidst fears cost-cutting measures will predominantly affect women.
As ministries scramble to deliver cost savings of around 6.5 to 7.5 per cent, the union representing public sector workers is concerned women will bear the brunt of cost-cutting measures.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has asked all government departments to look for savings to “restore discipline” to taxpayer spending.
Public Service Association assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons told NZME “the history of public sector cuts in New Zealand is that women suffer disproportionately”.
Public Service Association assistant secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Fitzsimons is vowing to hold the Government to account to ensure efforts continue to narrow the pay gap, as the axe comes down on contractors and back-office staffers.
Data from the Public Service Commission shows recent efforts have seen the gender pay gap drop significantly in the sector from 2000 to 2023.
In 2000, when the data was first reported, men were paid on average 18.6 per cent more than others. Slightly more than half of the country’s then 30,004 public servants were women at the time.
Three years later, in 2003, the pay gap dropped to 15.8 per cent. It hovered around this mark until 2018 with only slight increases and decreases.
In 2017, then-Labour leader Jacinda Ardern said there should be “no such thing” as a pay gap and vowed to re-draft Pay Equity legislation.
A three-year action plan was launched in 2018, and then another in 2021.
The 2021 Action Plan stated the pay gap is driven by multiple factors: “undervaluation of work largely performed by women, a concentration of women in lower-paid occupations and part-time work, the uneven distribution of unpaid caring and domestic work, limited options for flexible work in higher-paid roles, and under-representation of women in leadership.”
The focus on pay equity paid off with the gap narrowing from 12.2 per cent in 2018 to 7.1 per cent in 2023.
Nicola Willis said, “it’s good to see this downward progress and I hope it continues.”
Public Service Minister Nicola Willis. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Public Service Minister did not detail however what the new Government would be doing to continue bringing the pay gap down.
She also refused to answer whether it was concerning to still see a pay gap of 7.1 per cent, or comment on why it had gone down in recent years.
Instead, Willis provided a statement, saying “women have everything to gain from a government that takes care to spend their tax dollars wisely. Agencies have been asked to develop credible savings options, while ensuring New Zealanders continue to receive quality public services.”
She said agency chief executives and their staff are expected to use their “good judgment” in putting cost-slashing proposals forward.
NZME asked the Public Service Commission what was being done to continue addressing the gender pay gap and what had been discussed with the new minister.
It responded by saying “We have a new government as you know and with savings and efficiencies the priority, we haven’t had a chance yet to discuss some issues, like gender pay, with the minister.”
National’s policy document shows the party seeks to achieve “tax relief for the squeezed middle” by a $594 million on average annual reduction in spending on “back office functions”.
Careers site Indeed describes “back office” as the part of a company’s office that isn’t client-facing, instead often handling administrative work, maintaining records, strategy, and data.
Data from the Public Service Commission shows females are more likely to work in clerical and administrative roles, HR, legal, and policy-related roles.
Women currently make up 62.2 per cent of the Public Service workforce, according to latest numbers from the Public Service Commission. 55.9 per cent of senior leaders across the sector are women.
On gender pay disparities, MBIE chief people officer Jennifer Nathan told NZME the ministry is committed to “a number of actions to continue to make progress reducing our pay gap”.
“These actions are focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, and fall into the following areas: data integrity, remuneration and benefits outcomes, recruitment, career progression, talent management, leadership capability and organisational culture.”
MBIE’s specific pay gap is more significant than the public sector average. As of September 2023, men earned 12.9 per cent more than women. That was down however from 2016, when men were paid on average 20.2 per cent more.
The gap varies across departments, with the Ministry of Defence having the biggest at 23.6 per cent, whilst at Oranga Tamariki the roles are reversed, with women on average earning 3.4 per cent more than men.
MBIE vowed to cut costs before Govt was formed, internal communications reveal
Carolyn Tremain, chief executive of MBIE.
One of the largest government departments, the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment [MBIE], is actively exploring a voluntary redundancy process, and has been looking to bring down its spending prior to the election result.
In an email sent to all staff, released to NZME under the Official Information Act, chief executive Carolyn Tremain told workers the ministry was “preparing for change” even before a change in government was confirmed.
Tremain noted the importance of political neutrality and an independent public service, whilst acknowledging comments in the news from “a political party” proposing to reduce staff numbers and work programmes “can be unsettling”.
Days before the election, on October 11, an update from Tremain to staff detailed “increasing talk about public sector savings”. She pointed out that regardless of the election result, MBIE would be working with “tighter budgets” to meet targets, “while recognising that further savings may be required”.
Following the initial election result, Tremain told all staff on October 18 “like all public sector organisations it is unlikely [the ministry] will receive funding for new initiatives”, warning “we will be facing additional cost pressures”.
“We are already thinking about how we can reduce our costs and utilise our funding to get the best value for money.”
On November 9, a letter from Tremain to all staff detailed a decision to reduce discretionary spending at MBIE by 15 per cent. Public servants were told to use on-site meeting rooms and not book off-site venues at a cost.
MBIE was “not recruiting for all vacancies” according to the letter, sent more than two weeks before the official confirmation of the new coalition Government.
National promised “to reduce back-office expenditure” in its “Back Office Boost” policy.
The Cabinet will have the final word on accepting the public service proposals, as part of Budget 2024.
Azaria Howell is a Wellington-based multimedia reporter with an eye across the region. She joined NZME in 2022 and has a keen interest in city council decisions, social housing and transport.
