A letter addressed to a staffer obtained by the Otago Daily Times confirmed that Te Pūkenga was "returning to the structure in place before the Creating Our Futures decision was confirmed in September 2023.
"This will involve restoring most disestablished positions for affected kaimahi (staff) and not proceeding with other changes, like reporting line and title changes."
But Tertiary Education Union organiser Daniel Benson-Guiu said there needed to be clarity from Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds about what the final structure would look like.
"At the moment, many staff feel like they’re in limbo.
"While some staff will be returning to their division and role pre-Te Pukenga, there’s no guarantee that this would be their permanent role going forward, as the divisions and structures might change again."
A spokesman for Ms Simmonds said in a statement that the government announced its intention to reintroduce institutes of technology and polytechnic (ITPs) and disestablish Te Pūkenga as part of its plan to increase local decision making and boost skills training in New Zealand.
"As part of this process, the Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills has asked for advice on what other changes may be needed to the vocational sector as a result of this decision. An announcement on any further changes will [be] made in due course."
The mega-polytechnic brought together the country’s 16 ITPs and nine industry training organisations but Ms Simmonds has since signalled a return to a more regional-based model.
She has said previously she would like to see the mega-polytechnic devolve to "eight to 10" separate institutions, with the work on it due for completion at the end of this year.
In February, about 7400 staff across the country were consulted on a proposal to restore disestablished roles and halt the other structural changes that were confirmed in September last year in response to the previous government’s move towards a national network for the sector.
Te Pukenga chief executive Gus Gilmore said more than 500 submissions were received during a two-week consultation period.
"From Tuesday this week, kaimahi (staff) who were consulted with began receiving decision letters by email.
"The intention with decisions is to restore employment certainty for network kaimahi."
The groups consulted with included: staff in roles disestablished under the previously confirmed national structure, staff who were offered new roles in the national structure and staff who were advised of a reporting line change because of the previously confirmed national structure.
"For most kaimahi (about 7000) their letter will confirm a regional or division-based reporting line.
"For other kaimahi, these letters intend to clarify and confirm their ongoing employment within Te Pūkenga."
In early April, Te Pukenga would be better placed to understand the full outcomes of this process, "including any redundancies with our intent to minimise this outcome as much as possible", he said.
