TVNZ axes jobs as presenters dine out

Just one night after TVNZ's stars were wined and dined at one of Auckland's swankiest restaurants, the state broadcaster said it was axing staff to cut costs.

Friday night's "team building" at the exclusive Toto restaurant was needed to "keep morale up" in tough times, spokeswoman Avon Adams told the Herald on Sunday, confirming that up to 30 jobs would be cut and other staff not replaced.

TVNZ said the job losses were needed as advertising revenue fell and it braced itself for a dip in the economy.

More than 20 of TVNZ's high-profile staff, including newsreaders Wendy Petrie and Kate Hawkesby, current affairs hosts Susan Wood and Mark Sainsbury and news boss Bill Ralston enjoyed fine food and wine until late in the evening.

The night was aimed at allowing staff who were rarely able to spend time together to socialise.

Ms Adams identified TVNZ's sales department and "interactive" website unit as areas where "some restructuring" would occur.

"We are in consultation with some individuals who are likely to be affected by these changes. Some positions will be disappearing and some will be created."

She said the changes had been planned for some time. "This is ongoing business, to look at the business to work out smarter and more effective ways of doing our business and making changes as we go."

Asked how many staff would go, she said: "We can't know until we've gone through a consultation period because there could be changes that come out of that consultation period, but the most I have heard talked about is 30.

"We are also looking at, in some cases, not replacing positions when people leave, depending on whether or not those positions are deemed to be necessary."

But Ms Adams played down the changes. "There is no restructuring. There is no downsizing. This is ongoing normal business."

She said the changes could take place across the entire organisation, and she had already identified one position in her small department who was likely to go.

"You also have to recognise, we all recognise, our income isn't as high as it has been in previous years. We know the advertising spend is down a bit. We have said quite publicly we are going to have to look quite carefully at our costs."

Ms Adams defended the party for the presenters. "If people believe their jobs might be affected, I would suggest that keeping morale up in times when we are under increased pressure... I would think keeping morale up was a pretty important thing to do."

Chairman Craig Boyce said the cuts were a normal part of business. "It's nothing out of the ordinary. It's nothing to get excited about."