Woolworths to Shift 130 Support Roles from New Zealand to Australia
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Woolworths plans to shift roughly 130 customer support roles from New Zealand to Australia as part of a restructuring across the Tasman.
The proposal includes shuttering the retailer’s dedicated customer care centre in New Zealand to streamline operations across its grocery division.
Cost Cuts and Centralisation
Closing the customer care facility will save the business $4.1 million by the 2029 financial year. Woolworths plans to absorb these contact functions into its Australian network rather than maintaining separate customer support centres across both countries.
Union officials pushed back immediately against the announcement. The Workers First Union condemned the proposal as “corporate greed”, warning that local staff are paying the price for trans-Tasman cost rationalisation.
Regional Margin Pressure
Supermarket operators across Australasia face persistent margin pressure from elevated operating costs and cautious consumer spending. Consolidating back-office and contact centre functions allows major grocers to trim overheads, mirroring broader retail trends across the region where administrative operations are pooled into single hubs.
Consultation over the proposed customer care shutdown remains underway ahead of the company’s 2029 financial milestone.