Redundancies at your university?

[Oh2beatsea]

Are any of you working at one of the many universities that are struggling financially?
Our university announced the financial pressure it's under recently and they are now talking about redundancies. I know a few in the sector are in a similar position and wondered what stage you might be at and how has the process been managed? Have they offered voluntary redundancy first or have they gone straight to compulsory redundancies?
Unsettling times.

Thank you, sadly I suspected that would be the case. Because if the situation is as bad as the sector are saying then the alternative would be go bankrupt 🤷‍♀️
My union branch seem to be under the impression there is no financial crisis, or it’s not as bad as stated…..and that it’s all just a made up ruse to fire people. I mean why would it be? Doesn’t make sense.

One thing that unions should be doing is to fight for transparency of decision making. What assumptions are made behind the judgement that x course is not cost effective? Why does stem appear to be protected when it's high cost (and reliant on uncertain OfS funding which looks to be frozen in total next year) ? If the decisions are right then this will restore trust in the sector if they are wrong they can be corrected
I am 100 percent certain that wage costs need to fall so institutions can survive but I am only about 10 percent sure they are going about it the right way

The financial ‘emergency’ is based upon a projection from Price Waterhouse Cooper - details here https://www.universitychairs.ac.uk/2024/01/12/uuk-report-pwc-analysis-on-financial-sustainability/ The report is based on several factors, but is nothing more than a projection and is being used to justify the cuts. I have already been in meetings where the financials are being rolled back on as next year is looking healthier than the report considered. This is as much about ideology than it is reality.

@Jazzicatz I don't know where on earth you are getting your information. Universities aren't making their decisions on the basis of a PWC report. We are looking at our own books, and using UCAS and international registrations data to form an extremely solid view of where we will each be in September. No one has mentioned the PWC report, even in passing. You have your head absolutely in the sand if you think this financial crisis is some sort of fabrication. Get on board and start looking for solutions with the rest of us!

The report is based on several factors, but is nothing more than a projection and is being used to justify the cuts. I have already been in meetings where the financials are being rolled back on as next year is looking healthier than the report considered. This is as much about ideology than it is reality.

It's really not and it's very naive of you to think that.

Uni finance figures will be published in a couple of weeks anyway so you'll be able to see clearly how much worse they are than last year (which was pretty dire).

I don't know.... we've all been pressured to contribute to recruitment this year because our projections were so terrible, now our numbers actually look ok and we might end up over-recruiting. Which of course leadership are thrilled but they're not the ones whose workload will explode.

I wish there was a bit more humility about the projections, between Covid, Brexit and CoL, it's a lot more unpredictable these days than in the past I think.

The report is based on several factors, but is nothing more than a projection and is being used to justify the cuts. I have already been in meetings where the financials are being rolled back on as next year is looking healthier than the report considered. This is as much about ideology than it is reality.

Really? Our figures are looking pretty dire for next year

There’s been no mention of the PwC report in any comms or presentations at my place, it’s all been based on our income and current/projected student numbers. I’m sure it looks like an ideologically-based attack but I’m not so sure that that view stands up to scrutiny once you look at the actual nos.

It's the first time I hear about this PwC report, and like others have said at my institution we've been presented with our own figures, which speak for themselves. Some of the large PGT programmes in Humanities and Social Sciences have lost as many as 40% of their usual intake. Some of the smaller programmes (such as those in my department) have fared better and even seen a modest increase but the numbers are so small that they hardly make a dent. Several of my colleagues act as if this is ideology and refuse to change their ways, and I am very conscious that management has a thing for using all kinds of excuses to impose austerity, however it is difficult to deny in a situation like this that there are massive real financial problems, the numbers just don't add up. True, you can argue that it's the fault of (some) universities in the first place for expanding like crazy in the last few years, building new buildings and hiring lectures to teach massive cohorts of international students without much concern about sustainability. But the problem is still there, and is going to need solving.

Has anyone's VS scheme ended? I don't think we know for another couple of months at mine. I'm curious to see whether this is going to stave off redundancies, although I doubt it.

I saw Hallam are going for 400 more redundancies on top of the 120 who went through voluntary last month 😢

Jesus

Looks like previous round was academic staff and this is non academic/professional services. Problem is that it’s likely to impact on remaining academics if the academics are then expected to do more course admin. Or maybe they think remaining non academic staff can absorb it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn335jk3nzpo#:~:text=Up%20to%20400%20jobs%20could%20be%20lost%20at%20Sheffield%20Hallam,led%20to%20%22tough%20decisions%22.

Sheffield Hallam is on my top five list of universities that will fold by September 2025.

Who else do you reckon?

Oxford Brooks isn't looking great from the rumours I have heard.

If it’s anything like my place(which is way behind the times), there has been a massive increase in central PS staff who seem to do nothing but communicate. Mostly internal comms and workforce development. They have no KPIs and contribute nothing to the support of teaching and reseach. They could go tomorrow with no impact on the core business of the university. Speaking as PS staff, these posts could be lost and wouldn’t impact on academic matters.

I was worried someone would say that, dc has been offered a place!

Tbf anywhere that has had redundancies recently is shaky. Kent has already done a restructuring so is ahead of the curve and despite the pain, loss of courses, etc. will now be on a much sounder footing. Oxford Brookes and a large number of others will be needing to do the same.

Labour is going to have to raise tuition fees urgently if they want to avoid actual collapses.

Chichester would be on my list

Definitely avoid. I've heard similar rumours.

400 staff is a really significant number, colour me shocked.

I think if an institution does go under (how does that happen? Do they declare bankruptcy?) then the way the govt will respond will be very instructive. Given that Starmer has ruled out abolishing tuition fees, and plans to add VAT to private school the door’s wide open to increase fees AND add VAT to them. Maybe not in one move but I can see that happening.

I really really don't think it's responsible to name specific institutions - it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy if that then puts students off (though not sure MN's reach is that far), nevertheless can colleagues resist the temptation to point fingers please. The whole sector is struggling, possibly those that are doing something about it now with their redundancy programmes will be the survivors.

What happens when an institution goes under: everyone has a student support plan registered with OfS (I assume the other nations have similar). Students will be transferred to other unis, same for research (though more difficult), buildings sold to pay creditors. More likely though are whole mergers with another local (ish) uni.

Sorry - realise I'm not the thread police!

Don't know if any uni colleagues read Playbook but they've suggested uni finances are surprisingly high on Labour's to-do list so hopefully none of this will come to pass...

I do want to know where the crisis is deepest, otherwise it remains a bit of luck if you happen to know someone somewhere and have insider insight. I am looking for a new job, as my institution is no longer shaky, but the workloads have tripled..... so helpful to know about devil and deep blue sea...