The Christchurch City Council has announced 46 jobs will be axed as a part of a restructure.  

The council spoke with affected staff this morning, before going public with the announcement this afternoon.

Overall 180 roles will be disestablished and 134 new positions will be created.

CEO Karleen Edwards said staff will need to reapply for the new positions, and top management isn't exempt from that.

The chief operating officer, chief planning officer, director of facilities rebuild and director of community will all need to reapply.  

Ms Edwards explained the idea behind the restructure is to create a more streamlined organisation, where residents can easily get answers to their questions.  

"A lot of people have told us that we're difficult to work with in the sense that we're highly siloed, or it's hard to know who to contact in the organisation," she said.  

The council's front-line staff have not been affected.