Mass layoffs for nationwide maintenance firm

The company is cutting around six per cent of its workforce with "almost every team" due to be impacted

Mass layoffs for nationwide maintenance firm

A nationwide maintenance company has confirmed it will be making mass layoffs in the coming weeks as bosses scramble to right-size the business.

CityCare, which maintains the water pipes for around 25 per cent of New Zealand properties, has already begun the redundancy process with CEO Onno Mulder pointing to “an unexpected decline in business” as the reason for the cuts.

"We expected this to have turned around by now but there are few indications of any tangible reversal of the trend over the next 6 to 12 months so we have been compelled to reduce costs and to quickly right-size the business, in order to push through this difficult period,” he said.

A confidential email to staff, obtained by Fairfax Media, says around 100 employees will lose their jobs with “almost every team” due to be impacted.

"Rectifying the current situation requires us to relocate, redeploy and to make some redundancies,” said Mulder. “While this is highly regrettable, we have worked hard to contain the situation so that the changes are likely to impact less than six per cent of our employees and I am confident that acting now and acting swiftly will enable us to deliver a stronger platform for future growth."

According to the leaked email, the layoffs include a number of managers, an advisor, a receptionist and a surveyor as well as a reduction in the road and trucking teams.

The email also stated that recent vacancies will not be replaced in roles including project management, estimating, site engineering and client management.

"Overall this is a significant change impacting salaried and waged staff and we welcome your feedback on these proposed changes,” read the email. “If you have other ideas as to cost reductions or revenue creation, please let us know."