A heavily pregnant woman and a new mother who had recently started maternity leave were pitted against each other to fight for their jobs in the ABC's controversial redundancy process.

Eight ABC employees on maternity leave are expected to lose their jobs in the redundancy round triggered by $250 million in federal government budget cuts .

Illustration: Matt Golding.

On top of 180 direct redundancies, about 330 ABC staff on equivalent pay grades were placed in pools to compete with each other for jobs – a process nicknamed "The Hunger Games" after the movie in which teenagers are forced to battle to the death in a televised game.

Employees in the pools had to complete a skills audit in the weeks leading up to Christmas, with about 100 of those who received the lowest scores earmarked for redundancy.