Water Corp looks to axe 300 jobs
Ten per cent of the Water Corporation's 3000-strong workforce face the axe as the utility deals with cuts to its capital works program and State Government subsidy.
Although the prospect of job cuts has loomed since December, the Water Corp and Water Minister Mia Davies have refused to put a figure on the number of people who will depart.
Workers in the utility's infrastructure design branch were told on Friday that 300 people would lose their jobs across the business, including 30 roles - about 25 per cent - in the design division. It is believed job losses would be a mixture of natural attrition, voluntary and involuntary redundancies.
Officially, the Water Corp says it has no set target for job cuts.
The utility has created a new portfolio head - general manager of transitions - who is responsible for conducting a top-to- bottom review of operations.
Sources said some branches would be merged and positions would be consolidated.
The Water Corp's capital budget, which has stood at just under $1 billion for the past three years, is likely to be cut to about $850 million this year and it could be reduced further.
The utility confirmed in a written statement that staff in the design branch were informed on Friday that "a business transformation program" had "identified spare capacity".
"The business transformation program will identify areas where the water utility needs to be more productive and efficient," a spokeswoman said.
"The main outcome will be lower operating costs but asset maintenance and customer service levels will not be reduced. The program will also ensure the corporation has the right number of people in the right roles.
"The program aims to achieve a more flexible organisation that can adapt to changing workloads and customer needs while operating safely."
Treasurer Mike Nahan said in October that Government subsidies to the Water Corp would be cut by 7.5 per cent this financial year and by 10 per cent a year thereafter. This is on top of "efficiency dividend" requirements that operating expenditure be trimmed by 2 per cent a year.
The Water Corp received $566 million of subsidies last financial year and $437 million in 2012-13, reflecting an obligation to supply country customers at below cost to keep prices uniform with city customers.
The utility said in January that it would put its engineering and constructions services division up for sale.
Shadow water minister Dave Kelly said the loss of so many "quality" jobs would hit hard at a time when unemployment was becoming a bigger issue for WA.
