Anguish as Toll slashes 37 jobs

Thirty-seven positions have been slashed from the workforce of regional carrier Toll United of Whangarei in a process Toll NZ general manager Greg Millar describes as "anguishing".
Eleven positions went by attrition over the past few months and 26 positions have been "disestablished".
All those  affected have now left, and there are now  263 on the payroll.
Mr Millar said Toll NZ was faced with having to cut staff from operations nationwide but had started in Northland because the region seemed to be hardest hit in the current economic downturn. "That is certainly what has been showing up in our statistics," he said.
Toll United had started to feel the effects of the economic downturn from last November - "until then, things were going quite well".
The company had found itself in a position where there was not enough work to fully utilise its staff and assets. Since then, trade had dropped 30 per cent in the general freight division.
Mr Millar said when loss of trade became apparent, the company had started a lengthy consultative process with staff, canvassing ideas on how to restructure the operation so services could be maintained.
"The team came up with a lot of good initiatives and plans to keep customers happy and keep people employed - but suddenly a series of redundancies became unavoidable," he said. "From my perspective it was an absolute last resort. We worked closely with staff to make sure everybody understood the situation and we have done everything we can to ensure that goodwill and relationships stayed intact.
"It's been very tough - one of the toughest decisions any management has to take, but you have to do this to survive."
Job losses ranged from drivers to administrative staff.
Mr Millar said Toll NZ - owned by Australian transport and logistics company Toll Holdings - was very committed to "the business, the region and the customers" and was keen to re-hire people "when the good times come".
* 13 CYF jobs axed
In another jobs blow, 13 Whangarei people are among 80 Child, Youth and Family (CYF) staff facing job losses nationally.
The CYF employees are among 200 Ministry of Social Development (MSD) staff whose jobs will be be axed in a restructuring move the ministry predicts will save up to $22 million a year.
 
The fate of the 13 Whangarei staff, most employed in administrative roles, is expected to be finalised next month.
And CYF head Ray Smith was  confident yesterday other jobs would by then have been found for most of them.
CYF is closing 12 administration service centres - including one in Whangarei - and cutting a team of 18 child abuse education social workers.
However, 12 new social worker positions to support foster families had been created and also new centralised administration roles.
The CYF administration centre in Whangarei has 43 staff, but the jobs of only 13 of them are expected to be affected by the change. 
Transition teams will remain in current service centres for up to six months, but the restructuring involves Northland CYF services being administered through an  office in Takapuna.
To ensure leadership is enhanced, a new position of care services manager will be established in Northland and eight other regional operational areas.
Four CYF caregiver social workers are now based in Kamo but with the restructuring, one will be located in Kaitaia, Dargaville and Kaikohe and there will be the full-time equivalent of 1.5 in Whangarei.
Site managers and youth justice managers reporting to operations managers will continue to be based in Kamo until their planned move to the ministry's northland regional office in Whangarei next year.