A SENIOR council director has warned management workers that more of their roles face the axe - saying it is inevitable.

Sander Kristel, one of the top bosses at Worcestershire County Council, says the authority will have to become much more leaner to cope with the massive budget pressures coming its way.

As your Worcester News has reported in recent weeks, early forecasts indicate around £25 million needs to be saved per year between now and 2020.

The spending squeeze is driving the well-publicised new operating model which could see around 85 per cent of functions commissioned to third parties.

Mr Kristel, director of commercial and change, said the huge change means layers of old management will come under increasing focus for re-structuring.

The operating model is based on assumptions that around 1,500 full-time equivalent posts could go, with the hope most workers can have their employment transferred to new employers.

That would leave around 2,000 non-school jobs remaining in-house, with Mr Kristel saying those who remain will be more important than ever in terms of investment, responsibility and training.

"With the changes we are looking to make, flexibility is required more and more in how we work and the skill sets people have," he said.

"We are becoming a significantly smaller organisation but it's important to realise we will still remain one of the biggest organisations in Worcestershire in a few years time.

"The staff are incredibly important to us, we've got to invest in them and their skills and there will be less layers of management.

"We've got workforce projections up to 2018 but it will be important for us to look beyond that."

Speaking to councillors during a meeting of the corporate and communities overview and scrutiny committee, he also said recruiting more volunteers will be important.

Over the next few weeks the authority will draw up a "top 10" list of roles where people can volunteer.

County Hall has around 4,300 volunteers helping across a range of services under its 'Act Local' scheme including libraries, gritting and community transport - ultimately freeing up cash to invest in other areas.

"The issue of us having less and less money is well rehearsed, predicting where the demand will come from in the future and doing something about it, that's incredibly important," he added.