SEVEN GROUP directors at the Bureau of Standards have been cut from the staff as part of a modernisation and restructuring programme started in September.
According to Marie Iton, the bureau's manager in charge of resources and administration, the cut was aimed at promoting efficiency, offering a better service to the public, and ensuring that the Bureau of Standards carry out its mandate.
Ms. Iton said that before the reform started, there were nine group directors who were in charge of six functional areas -- standardisation, metrology and testing, human resources and administration, facilities, information, and finance.
The jobs of the group directors were advertised and the consultancy firm, the Job Bank, helped in selecting and short-listing applicants. She said the short list was then presented to the Bureau of Standards which selected applicants it needed.
"Of the seven [group directors] who left last Friday, five opted not to apply. The other two who applied were not successful," Ms. Iton said, adding that only two of the nine applicants were successful.
She said the selection process ended on March 26, and that the Bureau could not have made an announcement until it had negotiated with two successful applicants. "We met with all seven applicants last Wednesday and they were told that in keeping with the strategic planning, their positions were redundant and we would be severing [ties] with them on Friday", Ms. Iton said.
She said some of the former group directors had offered the Bureau of Standards their specialised services as consultants, whenever the bureau needed them.
Despite the cuts, Ms. Iton said, the bureau would still be able to function effectively as one of two core functions at the agency was headed by a former group director, now a manager. She said the core areas were supported by functional ones. "We believe we have a team in place to handle the affairs of the bureau," she said.
