Dozens of polytech staffers face losing their jobs

Friday, 23 May 2025

Dozens polytech staffers could lose their jobs under a proposal that would affect countless students and one which union reps are calling “insane”.

The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) said nearly 60 positions at Weltec and Whitireia would go, if the proposal was confirmed, with one in five academic positions affected by the slash.

Programmes in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Fabrication, Light Automotive Engineering, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Writing, Publishing, Cookery, Baking and Hospitality will be affected by the job losses, TEU stated.

Leanne Ivil, operations lead of Whitireia and WelTec, said a net reduction of 52.59 FTEs (full time equivalent positions) were potentially impacted.

Ivil said Whitireia and WelTec were reviewing their portfolio of programmes and property to support longer-term financial viability. This was in line with the Government’s plan to disestablish Te Pūkenga and set-up regionally autonomous institutes of technology and polytechnics.

“This is very much a consultation and the leadership team genuinely wants to hear feedback from kaimahi before making decisions.”

Whitireia Porirua TEU branch president Helen Johnston and WelTec automotive tutor William Fowles spoke with The Post about what the job cuts would mean for them and their students.

Johnston said she was feeling sad, as the loss of crucial programmes would affect the wider community and young people looking to train for their careers.

While she had retained her job, the school she was part of would be changing, as well as the location of where she would work, she said.

Johnston said she had spent Wednesday with the affected staff who had been told their jobs were being disestablished, with the majority primarily concerned about their students’ futures.

“I’m just wondering what the future looks like,” she said.

Fowles said the remaining staffers had legitimate questions about how the system was going to function.

The foundational programmes would have a “huge” reductions in numbers, from 15 to five full time roles, he said.

These were the programmes that supported people with learning challenges, or second chance learners, or people who hadn’t completed a high school qualifications and needed wrap around support, he said.

“The vast majority of people were saying what are our students going to do? Those programmes are just going to be stuffed out of existence.”

Regarding a programme like cookery, which had high student enrolment, all but two of the programmes were being slashed because the Government wasn’t willing to invest in to having additional facilities, Fowles said.

“It's not because the interest isn't there. It's just they can't afford to expand from what they have, so they have to reduce. It's insane. It's not serving the community,” he said.

There was a significant pipeline of students funnelling into the institutions. By getting rid of those pathways, it affected the institutions’ relationship with the schools, he said, as well as people’s futures.

“There won't be the connections, the relationships, and there won't be the opportunities necessary for students to recognise what is available within their communities.”

Fowles said the disestablishment of 60 jobs was “a choice” made by the Government, one that would rip apart vocational education.

“We're going to lose a lot of pathways in engineering and automotive, for people to extend their training beyond the very basic our level four programme,” he said.

The group would be meeting the education minister next week and presenting her with their petition, they said.

TEU national secretary Sandra Grey said the job slash was “absolutely gutting”, having taken place due to a government directive to save costs.

She said the TEU members who were losing their jobs were “shellshocked” and unable to believe this was happening, with the majority’s first concern being their students.

“They didn't even think about themselves and their own jobs. They went straight to our communities [who] are going to miss out.”