Editorial: Do public servants really not deserve Christmas?

Some of our public servants won't be getting a Christmas work celebration, thanks to spending cuts.

Editorial

EDITORIAL

As a year of mass job cuts, uncertainty and stress comes to an end, many public servants who survived the cost-cutting are working on, with no celebration for their efforts.

Several Government departments have told staff that, due to financial restraints, there will be no official Christmas work do this year.

Some are organising BYO get-togethers or small gatherings for teams, others will let staff finish early on their last day before the break.

One of the biggest ministries, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), told the Herald the decision not to fund a Christmas function was a reflection of the current fiscal environment, not how staff were valued.

Crown Law staff must pay “a small entry fee to cover finger food” and bring their own drinks to their Christmas do – a stark contrast to how many private law firms will be celebrating.

Many businesses nationally will be facing similar dilemmas. In a time of cost pressures, how do you throw a Christmas function that rewards staff without putting the organisation in further financial strife?

But do we really think public servants aren’t worthy of a Christmas party just because they work for the Government?

This Government is on a mission to cut spending, and Government agencies have been at the forefront of that, with a clear drive to cut roles and find efficiencies.

Early in her tenure, Finance Minister Nicola Willis asked public service departments to find savings of either 6.5% or 7.5%, depending on how much the department had grown since 2017.

In the past year, more than 9000 roles have been lost. Some of those came from vacant roles not being filled, others from projects no longer going ahead under the coalition Government.

Spending from departments has also come under increased scrutiny from the media, investigating allegations of wasteful spending and public sector bloat.

That’s understandably made leadership teams ultra-cautious about signing off any new spending, especially spending that could be construed as wasteful or unnecessary in the current economic climate.

With that in mind, it’s easy to see why a Christmas do could be considered unessential spending: the fear it might be seen as a benefit, a nice-to-have, something a journalist will uncover through the Official Information Act and write a negative story about.

Just like Willis has said working from home is not an “entitlement”, perhaps a festive function is no longer approved spending.

It’s a sad state of affairs, though, when working for the Government means you’re entitled to less than other industries. Surely serving the public should be something highly regarded, something we want people to aspire to.

It should be an industry we want to see attract top talent.

Cutting wasteful spending is one thing, but it’s hard to see how a small Christmas do in line with workplaces across the country could possibly be construed as a bad thing for public servants.

And if this Government really wants to improve performance and drive change, it might want to check what message it’s sending to the existing workforce about their value.

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