The Ministry of Social Development's workforce is set to drop by more than 700, after a round of proposed cuts was announced on Thursday.
It means there are now about 5000 public sector jobs already gone, or proposed to be cut.
Have you been affected by public sector job cuts? Email hamish.cardwell@rnz.co.nz
The Ministry for Social Development (MSD) had already accepted 218 applications for voluntary redundancy in April in the service delivery, Māori communities and partnerships teams, as well as those in human resources, policy, strategy and communications.
But on Thursday it confirmed it is proposing to cut 97 positions - of which 27 are vacant.
Another 56 fixed-term employees would finish up at the end of June, it said. And since December, a further 341 roles had gone through attrition, holding vacancies, and though the expiry of fixed-term agreements.
"In total, if the change proposals go through as proposed, MSD's head count will reduce by 712 positions," MSD people and capability deputy chief executive Nadine Kilmister said.
At the end of December, the ministry employed 9482 full-time staff - meaning about 7.5 percent of the workforce was set to go.
Earlier, the ministry also confirmed it would no longer fund 44 of the current 132 budgeting services, due to a change in the funding model and the end of a cash boost given during the pandemic.