The savings goal was specified in an email sent to staff by chief executive Dr Megan Gibbons yesterday, following Te Pukenga’s announcement of a $35 million budget cutback and "staffing changes".
Tertiary Education Union (TEU) Otago/Southland Organiser Daniel Benson-Guiu said the institutions joining Te Pukenga had been asked throughout the year to make savings.
"We’re at a stage where there isn’t much left to cut except for staff, and staff realise that," he said.
Staff had been hopeful about Te Pukenga and its goals for the vocational education sector, but it now seemed there had been "empty promise after empty promise" about a brighter future.
A stop-work meeting was already scheduled for this Thursday for union members at the polytechnic to discuss progress on collective agreements for staff. However, the union’s position on yesterday’s announcement would also be discussed.
"I think [members are] going to be angry, they’re going to be frustrated. I’ve seen a lot of cynicism.
"If there’s a way that members want to express their anger — that may be petitions, rallies, what ever other way — that’s something that would be discussed," Benson-Guiu said.
Te Pukenga’s annual forecast deficit is now $63 million, down from the $110 million figure forecast earlier in the year.
Acting chief executive Peter Winder described the figure as "clearly unsustainable" in his announcement yesterday.
The organisation aimed to reduce its 2023 budget by about $10 million across work-based learning, and by about $25 million across former polytechnics, while "prudent savings" would be made at the national office.
"Savings will come from a number of areas, but may include some targeted and formal proposals for staffing changes."
Proposals would be made at a regional level and reviewed from a network level, he said.
He acknowledged the impact of change and uncertainty, and said people’s needs would be front of mind while proposals were considered.
In her email to staff yesterday, Dr Gibbons said if the 2023 forecast deficit was not reduced, it would restrict the availability of funding to support the next steps of the transition.
A 3% cost reduction needed to be worked towards — a saving of $2.7 million, she said.
While "a lot" had been done to minimise spending, further savings needed to be identified, and she encouraged staff to think about palatable ways this could be done.
"We acknowledge that this is not a comfortable place to be."
An update would be provided following an executive meeting on Tuesday.
National tertiary education spokeswoman and Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds, who was chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) for 23 years, said she was not surprised by Te Pukenga’s announcement.
The only way significant savings could be achieved was by getting rid of staff, she said.
Budget cuts should not be coming from polytechnics that were being run efficiently.
