ISLANDERS who follow the subtleties of the way government approaches difficult decisions will be taken by the different approaches adopted over serious cost-saving and staff reduction programmes.

Treasury and Resources is – wisely – nervous about the resolve of the Assembly to endorse a computer modernisation process that will significantly join up departments because it is expected to lead to the loss of around 50 IT and administration jobs.

From the taxpayers’ point of view, adopting a ‘shared services’ administration model is doubly beneficial. Not only does it cut out inefficiencies and duplication, it also saves around £1.7m. per annum.

But it will be seen as a significant step, not least because the civil service union is digging in over compulsory redundancies.

Elsewhere, however, Guernsey Post, the States-owned utility, has quietly been going about slashing costs and shrinking its workforce without anyone really being aware of the transformation.

It is remarkable for two reasons. The first is that a now commercialised business which is literally fighting for survival is having to dismantle the costly sweetheart deals that were put in place when it was run by civil servants and politicians.

The second is that staff and management are working together to ensure the longevity of the business in an environment where there are no bail-outs or taxpayer support – management and staff have to fight for the revenues that pay their wages and are thus in it together.

That is why Guernsey Post, with fewer than 300 employees, will shortly have shed 50 people as part of its cost-cutting while Treasury and Resources, which pays nearly 5,000 full-time equivalent staff, is concerned at losing the same number.

Management and staff at Guernsey Post can be proud of what they have achieved, not least because they offered bulk mailers cheaper prices ahead of the economies needed to pay for those better rates.

The contrast between that organisation and the States generally could not be more marked and, in the context of what GPL has pulled off, deputies voting for a shared services computer system is neither radical nor difficult.