The Defence Force will spend $60 million in one-off payments to stop its personnel walking out the door, as it loses 30% of uniformed staff in two years.
Each defence staffer will receive a $3661 payment in May. The payments are on top of $10,000 provided to “strategically significant" uniformed staff, approved by the Government in December at a cost of $10m, and on top of the $90m for a three-year wage boost approved in the 2022 Budget.
Severe attrition – brought on by a tight labour market, below market-rate wages, and dissatisfaction after spending the pandemic guarding managed isolation facilities – has meant 29.8% of full-time uniformed staff across the army, air force and navy have left in the past two years.
"It's a very high number. I personally haven't seen numbers as high as this in my time as a senior officer, and that means, in the last 20 years,” Chief of Defence Air Marshal Kevin Short said of the attrition, in an interview on Tuesday.
The lack of staff has forced the Defence Force to mothball its surveillance P-3 Orion aircraft five months earlier than scheduled, and three navy ships remained tied up in Devonport unable to be used.
The lack of staff has forced the Defence Force to mothball its surveillance P-3 Orion aircraft five months earlier than scheduled, and three navy ships remained tied up in Devonport unable to be used.
Short said he hoped the one-off payments had stopped the exodus of staff – “a number” have retracted their resignations – but it was too soon to know.
"The feedback I've got so far is that our people are pleasantly surprised that everybody received a retention payment ... What I need to do now is look at the long term support for our people.”
The lack of staff has forced the Defence Force to mothball its surveillance P-3 Orion aircraft five months earlier than scheduled, and three navy ships remained tied up in Devonport unable to be used.
Short said he hoped the one-off payments had stopped the exodus of staff – “a number” have retracted their resignations – but it was too soon to know.
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"The feedback I've got so far is that our people are pleasantly surprised that everybody received a retention payment ... What I need to do now is look at the long term support for our people.”
hort said the Defence Force still had sufficient capacity, with more than 8500 personnel, to respond to a deployment request from the Government – as it did with the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
Alternative aircraft and ships were deployed as the first choice, the P-3 Orions and offshore patrol vessels stuck in Devonport, were unavailable. The 1000 defence personnel on the ground also worked longer shifts due to a lack of available staff.
“We were able to fulfil all tasks. It's just we had to use different platforms to do different roles,” he said.
But the Defence Force would have difficulty responding to a second, concurrent deployment request.
“Across the organisation, it’s the depth of skilled people that is a concern ... In the Army, with their combat support squadron, they have lost a number of skills and in some cases they're only one or two people deep, as opposed to normally having four.”
The P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft were retired early due to safety concerns. Short said there was a lack of specialist staff to provide independent oversight of maintenance on the planes, and staff were needed to get new P-8 Poseidon surveillance planes ready for service.
The air force has cut back on its scheduled maritime patrolling as a result. Short said Australia and other nations have not had to be called on due to New Zealand’s lack of surveillance aircraft.
