Woolworths to Move NZ Customer Care to Sydney, Impacting Over 100 Roles
- Woolworths is stripping 130 customer care jobs from New Zealand, relocating the operations to Sydney.
- The shift follows a proposal introduced earlier this month to merge New Zealand support teams into the existing Australian network.
- Mark Wolfenden, Woolworths NZ director of digital and eCommerce, described the move as a difficult but necessary step to simplify internal operations.
Woolworths is stripping 130 customer care jobs from New Zealand, relocating the operations to Sydney. The supermarket giant confirmed the move, ending a formal consultation period with staff and union representatives.
Consolidating Support into the Australian Network
The shift follows a proposal introduced earlier this month to merge New Zealand support teams into the existing Australian network. While the company claims it adjusted the original plan based on feedback, the core of the restructuring remains intact.
Mark Wolfenden, Woolworths NZ director of digital and eCommerce, described the move as a difficult but necessary step to simplify internal operations. The firm says the consolidation will eliminate duplicated overhead costs to improve long-term business sustainability.
“This has been a difficult decision, and we recognise the significant impact it has on our customer care team members who have served our Kiwi customers with dedication for many years,” Wolfenden said.
Redeployment and Internal Transfers
Woolworths says its immediate priority is supporting employees affected by the closure. The company is currently conducting one-on-one sessions with team members to discuss internal transfers.
Wolfenden noted that the business is exploring redeployment opportunities across its broader New Zealand operations, specifically within the supply chain divisions and the supermarket network. To facilitate this, the company has committed to ring-fencing vacant roles specifically for staff whose positions are being eliminated.
Union Backlash Over $163 Million Earnings
The Workers First union has slammed the decision, framing it as a cost-cutting exercise at the expense of local jobs. Rudd Hughes, the deputy secretary of Workers First, questioned the necessity of the cuts given the company’s recent financial success.
For the year ending June 2026, Woolworths reported earnings before interest and tax of $163 million—an 8.8% increase over the previous year. Hughes argued these figures make the job losses unjustifiable.
“Woolworths has just banked $163 million in earnings from Kiwi shoppers, and its response is to put 130 New Zealanders out of work to save pocket change,” Hughes said. “It’s short-sighted, it’s greedy, and it’s a company turning its back on a country it has extracted mega-profits from.”
Monitoring Redundancy Obligations
The union’s focus now shifts to enforcement. Workers First officials stated they intend to monitor the redeployment process to ensure Woolworths complies with all redundancy obligations and follows through on its commitments to the affected staff.