Callaghan Innovation fire. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Callaghan Innovation's new $10 million software system is in limbo as the research organisation pulls itself apart.
The Crown-owned agency is being disestablished as part of the government's science reforms announced on 23 January, in the biggest overhaul of the science sector in 30 years.
Scientists whose funding will cease on 30 June are currently scrambling to secure themselves jobs, but their futures aren't the only things up in the air.
In September 2024, the organisation began implementing a new "enterprise resource planning" software, Workday, ostensibly to help it manage its finances and human resources.
In a statement to RNZ, a spokesperson said the system had cost Callaghan $10.397m and there was currently no plan for it.
"No decisions have been made regarding the future of assets, including the Workday system," they said.
In a heavily redacted Recommendation Report, released under the Official Information Act, Callaghan's project team said its current systems were "needlessly complex", using manual spreadsheets to manage payroll and staff and an upgrade was urgent.
Despite being more expensive, the team recommended Workday over another unnamed competitor, suggesting a minimum contract of five years and a maximum one of ten.
However, when seeking permission from the board to procure it in July 2023, Callaghan's executive explicitly addressed the issue of cost, outlining how the "significant investment" would be funded "given our financial position", arguing it would be an investment that saved the entity money over the next five years.
The organisation had been facing economic headwinds, and in subsequent months implemented a strategic reset, focusing on "core functions" in a bid to cut costs.
Ultimately, 61 roles were made redundant over the next 18 months, according to Newsroom, with four employees in those roles deployed into other parts of the business.
According to its 2023-2024 annual report, Callaghan paid out severance to 57 employees over that period - $1m to 21 employees in 2023, and an unbudgeted $2.7m to 36 employees in 2024.
Two weeks ago, Callaghan confirmed more than 60 jobs had been axed. More redundancies are expected with many of its functions winding up mid-year.
