INDUSTRY service delivery company Meat & Livestock Australia and digital livestock marketplace service provider AuctionsPlus have both reduced staff numbers, heading towards end of financial year.
MLA has made 15 staff redundant, mostly in mid-level operational roles, spread across various business units. Most were not ‘industry facing’ roles, Beef Central was told.
MLA staff numbers have increased gradually since 2017, reaching 290 full-time and part-time last financial year, up from 265 in 2017, and 248 a decade ago back in 2013-14.
Counter to that, MLA’s responsibilities now cover a much broader suite of activity than they did a decade ago, especially in areas like sustainability, animal welfare and carbon. And in addition to that, revenue from cattle transaction levies has remained unchanged on a per head basis since 2006 at $5, meaning there’s been gradual erosion of spending power over time due to inflation.
The MLA redundancies occurred on the eve of the arrival of new managing director Michael Crowley, who starts in his new job today.
Several staff shared news of their departure on social media on Friday.
A statement from MLA said it took the management of its levy payer funds seriously, and was continuously ensuring that the company’s cost base was fit-for-purpose and aligned to managing the investment portfolio efficiently and in the most appropriate way.
“In this instance, we have removed a number of roles from the business and we assure our stakeholders that this will not impact our ability to deliver the highest quality service to the industry,” the statement said.
The redundancies did not mean more consultancy work would be contracted in their place, Beef Central was told.
In separate news, online livestock marketing platform AuctionsPlus, owned by Elders and Nutrien, has also announced redundancies this week.
Three ‘forward facing’ staff who principally engage with stock agents will leave AuctionsPlus. At the same time the operations team will be expanded with redeployed staff, as part of a “normal business structural review,” Beef Central was told.