Government’s AI plan for public sector cuts questioned by tech leaders

AI promises efficiency, but experts warn job cuts won’t come as fast as planned. Photo / Getty Images

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon entered Parliament’s final sitting week before the House rises ahead of the election, doubling down on his plans to slash the public sector workforce. “I mean we’ve got a 1990 public service when we really need to have a 2040 public service,” he told Newstalk ZB host Mike Hosking. The plan is still to reduce the Government workforce to 55,000, or 1% of the population, by 2029, with up to 9,000 jobs needed to go to achieve the target. “I’m wanting us to reimagine the public servic...