Yes, I agree that much of the talk comes from humanities and soc sci. It’s true that there aren’t many jobs in those fields and I think universities tend to over recruit phd students, coupled with the fact that the skills gained as a student don’t necessarily directly translate to alternative careers.
However, universities need to be financially viable. Money comes from fee income and grant funding. Grants, esp large ones, can be hard to come by, and a lot of the research is quite niche and different to eg STEM where it has a direct impact.
Also, at my institution, recruitment for humanities is down and some depts are being carried by the rest of the faculty because they are not very financially viable. That’s not necessarily solely due to evil university bosses. At some places, there is a reality to this.
Also, I saw someone had estimated that the £3,000-odd pay rise UCU wants for all staff across the sector would cost hundreds of millions. That will mean redundancies, as will their demand that UUK gives a cast iron guarantee that they will bear the entire brunt of any rise in person contributions regardless of what any future valuation says. That will undoubtedly lead to universities tightening their belts on staffing. It just makes no sense.