Woolworths plans to offshore 130 NZ customer care jobs to Australia

Woolworths New Zealand has begun consultation on a proposal to close its Customer Care Centre and offshore around 130 jobs to Australia, according to Workers First Union.

More than 130 employees were reportedly told about the proposal at a meeting on September 1, with consultation beginning the same day. Affected workers have until September 15 to provide feedback on the proposal.

According to Workers First, Woolworths expects the move to deliver around NZ$4.1 million in additional earnings by the 2029 financial year.

Union raises concerns over impact on workers

Workers First Deputy Secretary Rudd Hughes criticised the proposal, describing it as another example of “corporate greed” and calling on New Zealanders to provide feedback to Woolworths.

“This is yet another example of New Zealanders losing out to Australia because companies like Woolworths see them as expendable,” said Mr Hughes.

“They’re happy to earn big profits in our country and make Kiwis reliant on their supermarkets, but they are planning to throw away more than a hundred of our jobs to save a very small amount of money over the next three years.”

“There should be a reasonable expectation that a large company like Woolworths should reinvest into the society where its customer base is generating those profits – but Woolworths seem to care only about their bottom lines.”

Workers First said many employees affected by the proposal are sole parents who work remotely and may have limited opportunities for redeployment or comparable employment in their regions.

“Many of the Customer Care team are sole parents who work remotely and will not find redeployment or comparable employment in their regions – this proposal will be crushing to hear about today.”

Proposal follows Woolworths' improved financial performance

The proposed closure comes after Woolworths reported improved financial performance for the year to June 2026, recording NZ$163 million in earnings before interest and tax, up 8.8% year on year, according to Workers First.

The union also pointed to Woolworths' more than NZ$400 million investment in store refreshes and rebranding as it criticised the proposed job cuts.

“Woolworths wasted over $400 million to re-rebrand themselves and are now axing over a hundred New Zealand jobs just to claw back around one percent of that cost.”

Workers First said union organisers who attended the September 1 meeting reported that Woolworths representatives told employees their views were “very important” but did not answer questions before ending the 20-minute meeting.

The union said some employees returned to work in tears and questioned whether their feedback would influence the consultation process.

Customer service concerns raised

The union also warned that moving customer care operations offshore could affect the customer experience, particularly where local knowledge is required.

“These are the same workers who were locked out by Woolworths at Christmas because they wouldn’t accept worse terms and conditions, and this proposal is a further slap in the face,” said Mr Hughes.

“New Zealanders should take note that this could also mean worse service for Woolworths customers,” said Mr Hughes. “Someone calling from Paekākāriki to inquire about a product return, for example, may find it much more difficult to deal with an Australian who lacks local knowledge and local experience.”

The proposed closure follows Woolworths' recent restructuring of South Island store butcheries, which Workers First said resulted in around 40 job losses.

Consultation now underway

Workers First said it has provided feedback to Woolworths and will continue representing affected employees during the consultation period.

“With a runaway unemployment rate at 5.6%, now is not the time to be putting New Zealanders out of work,” said Mr Hughes.

The proposal remains subject to consultation, meaning the final number of affected roles and the closure of the New Zealand Customer Care Centre have not yet been confirmed.