LINZ staff pay the price as agency agrees with Minister to do ‘less with less’

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) admits service levels will fall in some areas as it embarks on a major head count reduction programme – today confirming 15 roles going in the first phase.

LINZ has agreed with its Minister in its performance plan to cut its workforce by 2 per cent over each of the next three years, meaning between 40 and 50 roles will be gone in total by 2028. It aims to reduce staff numbers to 800 by June this year.

The first phase confirmed to staff today sees 15 roles cut impacting jobs in ministerial and government services, business management services, and the team that maintains the digital backbone that keeps LINZ’s technology systems working together.

“This is what managed decline of a key public service agency looks like, and the Minister is happy to see that happen regardless of the work that needs doing or the impact on services New Zealanders rely on,” said Duane Leo, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pukenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“We fear this is the thin end of the wedge – is the Government now happy for agencies to offer up specific headcount targets to meet its spending cuts or is it now actually directing headcount reductions? The PSA calls on the Prime Minister to be upfront with New Zealanders.”

LINZ management has told its workforce that to ‘ meet staff reduction expectations, LINZ will need to do less with less. We will need to stop or reduce service levels in some areas.’

“LINZ is responsible for critical functions that underpin property rights, land titles, overseas investment decisions, Crown land management and maritime safety. Cutting the people who do this work has real consequences.

“The agency’s own staff have warned that the cuts create single points of failure, risk non-compliance with statutory obligations, and will lead to delays and errors.

“That’s not efficiency, that’s degradation of public services by design.”

The PSA’s submission on the first phase of the restructure raised serious concerns about the impact on service delivery, including the risk of missed statutory deadlines for Official Information Act responses, ministerial briefings and select committee processes.

“Workers are exhausted by constant restructuring. Many have been through previous rounds of change and are now being told their roles are at risk again. The human cost of this relentless cost-cutting is enormous,” Leo said.

“These are dedicated public servants being told to look for work in a tough job market, at a time of rising costs impacting budgets, and impacting their ability to pay the rent or mortgage.

“This is just the same plan we have seen across the public service – a hollowing out the agencies New Zealanders depend on regardless of the challenges we face as a country.

“The PSA strongly opposes these cuts and will be demanding LINZ do all it can to redeploy impacted workers to other positions.”

LINZ is New Zealand’s lead agency for property and location information, Crown property and managing overseas investment. It manages land titles, the cadastre (official record of land boundary surveys), geodetic and hydrographic systems, and nearly three million hectares of Crown land.

In its performance plan for the Lands Information Minister, LINZ agreed to a 2 per cent staff reduction year on year for 2026, 2027 and 2028.

Phase one of the restructure impacts four areas: Digital Delivery (Digital Specialist roles reduced from 3 to 1), Ministerial and Government Services (2 roles disestablished), Delivery Capability (Data and Business Analyst roles reduced from 5 to 3, Solution Delivery Specialist roles reduced from 3 to 2). Three Enterprise Architecture roles are also being cut. This team is responsible for maintaining LINZ’s critical technology systems, including the Landonline property rights platform used for every land transaction in New Zealand.

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.