Nalcor continues to hire as government cuts jobs

The head of Nalcor says he'll continue to hire despite government calls for agencies, boards and commissions to shrink the number of managers

"We're hiring," Stan Marshall told reporters Thursday when asked about cuts to management at the crown corporation.

"We have to hire very technically-oriented people globally and so we put a structure in place. We'll be doing a lot of recruitment and we have to."

• 'Difficult day': 93 health care positions cut to streamline system, says John Haggie

Earlier in the week, Premier Dwight Ball said he'd be asking all agencies boards and commissions to find ways to cut costs.

Healthboards were the first agencies outside core government to announce cuts. They will save $7.6 million a year by cutting 93 management positions.

It's part of a government wide push for a "flatter, leaner" management structure.

'This is not like the liquor corporation'

Yet Marshall insists his organization is different.

"This is not like the liquor corporation where they're just refining day to day and firing a few clerks," he said.

"You don't make an investment of billions of dollars and not put people in place who know what they're doing."

On Wednesday the premier said the implementation of that "flatter learner management" isn't always about cutting jobs.

"What is fair? Because Nalcor is adding jobs would in some cases mean because of the growth or something, whatever is required to deliver the services," Ball told reporters.

"They've taken on a big project, you've seen the assets of Nalcorright now, it has grown too, and so the volume and the commitment of individuals that it would take to meet those needs and deliver those services will require people."

Nalcor is spending almost $12 billion to build the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project. It's years behind schedule and billions over budget.