Business of Government: wage restraint, science mega-merger and more...

A public servant contemplates his pay increase. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 14 Aug 2024

Money’s too tight to mentionLast week, Statistics New Zealand released its latest employment numbers, showing that central government annual wage rates had increased by nearly double the rate of the private sector.In the year to June, the salary and ordinary time wage rate index had increased 7.1% in central government versus only 2.6% in the private sector.A few hours later, the Government Workforce Policy Statement was issued, with wage restraint as its key message.It was the perfect line-up for Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ app...

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