The Earthquake Commission (EQC) says it is making such good progress on building assessments it will reduce the number of people employed as field staff earlier than expected.
Customer Services general manager Bruce Emson said on Monday EQC had set a goal in September of completing all 164,000 post-February full assessments of buildings in Canterbury by Christmas.
But Mr Emson says even with the additional work of assessments in the rest of the South Island, there was not the capacity to justify 500 field staff through to the end of the year.
He says about 150 people will finish work a fortnight early, with seven days' pay in lieu of notice.
He says this will save EQC a week in unpaid wages, and a fortnight's allowances and accommodation.
