Zoos Victoria will run a careers expo at Melbourne Zoo tomorrow, encouraging students to consider a career in zoology and wildlife conservation, while gutting 100 of its current jobs.

To add insult to injury, many staff whose jobs are on the chopping block will be required to present at and facilitate the expo.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU Victoria), who represent Zoos staff, said it was particularly galling for management to claim it cares about the careers of young Victorians while sacking 100 of its own hardworking staff.

A proposed restructure announced by Zoos Vic last month would see 100 jobs cut across all four Zoos Victoria locations, putting workers, animals, visitors and vital conservation programs at risk.

This move will devastate all parts of the Zoos that the Victorian public know and love, and its long history of animal conservation.

One area of concern is the Animal Hospital at Healesville Sanctuary – that helps care for more than 2000 injured animals each year. This team is currently run with four administration staff who answer calls and facilitate appointments – these roles will be replaced by one person.

The flow on effects of this will mean that veterinarians and vet-nurse staff will be doing their own admin work, leading to less native Australian wildlife will receiving critical care.

If Zoos Victoria management really cares for the career prospects of young people, and for the programs it is responsible for administering – from education to conservation – it must withdraw its proposed restructure.

"You can't claim to care about future zoologists and students interested in animal welfare work while cutting the staff who currently do these jobs."

"Management should put their money where the mouth is and ensure that these jobs will be available when these young people are ready to enter the workforce."

"This restructure will impact all parts of our zoos, from education to conservation, keeper talks and behind the scenes experiences – everything will be impacted."