Pre-Christmas restructure at Gen-i

More than 30 jobs are set to change significantly at Gen-i as the integrator moves to restructure two of its departments before Christmas.

However, Rowan Tonkin, Gen-i General Manager of Human Resources, says while there is always the possibility that the restructure will involve staff redundancies, the company’s goal is to keep staff turnover flat.

The Professional Services area, with 250 staff, and the Services Delivery department with 1300 employees, are the two departments undergoing a change of structure.

These changes will only affect one or two jobs in the Professional Services area, and between 30-50 roles in Service Delivery, says Tonkin.

Company-wide, Gen-i currently employs 2900 staff in 19 locations throughout New Zealand and Australia.

The company is currently in consultation with staff from the two departments effected by the change, and Tonkin says he hopes the company will have everything done and dusted pre-Christmas.

“We would like to get the restructure in place by Christmas. Reporting lines will be changed, as well as individual roles.”

When individual roles undergo significant changes, job losses are to be expected, he says. Gen-i have made 17 New Zealand staff and 14 Australian staff redundant since January.

However, the same period has seen a strong recruitment drive, with 123 addition roles being created – part of recessionary trend of moving away from contractors in favour of permanent full-time staff, he says.

Gen-i’s Australian staff could also face job losses as the company looks to refocus its business after losing out on the Commonwealth Bank Group account to Telstra.

The account was valued at $100 million, says Tonkin. In light of this the company will be placing extra emphasis on the ICT marketplace in Australia in 2010.

Although significant changes are on the cards at Gen-i, the company aims to keep its channel partnerships the same.