New Zealand Rugby has confirmed it's made a quarter of its administration staff redundant resulting in 40 job losses.
It's half the number the organisation had thought it was going to have to lay off last month.
In April New Zealand Rugby announced a seven and a half million dollar loss for 2019 and forecast a $120 million decline in revenue for the current financial year.
New Zealand Rugby initially told staff that half of its 180 full time jobs were to be culled due to the financial impact of COVID-19.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson. Photo: Photosport
But chief executive Mark Robinson says the resumption of rugby with the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition meant the "cuts to staff numbers aren't as harsh as first feared...but it's still incredibly hard to say goodbye to people who have given such a huge amount to the game"
New Zealand Rugby received nearly $3.7 million from the government's wage subsidy scheme, covering 539 employees - which includes its contracted players along with administrative staff at rugby HQ.
Robinson said New Zealand Rugby is also looking at applying for the wage subsidy extension scheme whereby businesses must have had a revenue loss of at least 40% for a 30-day period in the 40 days before they apply, compared to a similar period last year.