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.

This is such an important point -think for most of the sector costs of providing social science and humanities is well below the tuition fee
I think if the problem was framed in this way they would be more appetite to raise the fee or up the contribution to high cost subjects
Perhaps this would end up with science being concentrated on fewer places but that's better than the whole sector crumbling

We've had one round of academic redundancies, and there'll be a course offering review which may result in more at the start of next academic year. We've also had some support services redundancies, which have been pretty scary as we've lost a lot of very experienced one-deep people who perform important functions. Still more support services redundancies to come, which may end up including me. We're all starting to wonder who'll be left to teach and run the university by the time it's all done.

"Market-led optimisation of existing portfolio"
"Staff-student rations are now unsustainable in some schools and departments."
"Size and shape of some schools / departments will be adjusted."
"Opportunities for voluntary severance".

Words uttered this afternoon by our VC.
Faculty meeting tomorrow. Sigh.

It's really difficult when they put out vague messages like this. I know they are following a process, but it leaves you uneasy when it's not clear who will be affected.

The voluntary severance 'opportunity'! At my place we have various 'one time only', 'you'd be a fool not to take it' rounds...

Reading this thread I'm conscious of the same really odd terms coming up across institutions eg size and shape
Does anyone know which consultants they are all using? How much are they getting paid? How much experience do they have in the sector?

We used the terms 'shape and size' when we were going through restructuring/redundancies and used no consultants!

Well, I will know more in about an hour. Going over to faculty follow-on meeting now. My main teaching is a degree programme of currently 7 students (mostly international), so that may well face the axe. Good news is that I have had my fingers in different other pots across the university in the past few years, so might well be able to position myself in new ways. Bad news is that I suspect a subject I formerly taught in will be scrapped and taught out, so I suspect I will be asked to teach modules there next academic year (and I haven't taught this subject for ages). But anything could happen!

How did it go? All sorts of ructions at my place too. It's hell.

Well... so that's how it went. The university needs to reduce costs quickly, so has a voluntary severance scheme, with ten days decide to whether you want to take it. This is without knowing whether your programme will be cut or not - these decisions will be made later. They are targeting in particular people who are expensive. Some happy faces amongst older colleagues but those of us with families and mortgages not so much. Take money now and be out of a job, or don't take the severance, wait it out and face the cull anyway (if not enough staff are found in the first round or if your programme is cut).
I actually think I am relatively save - small MA programme, but lots of international students. Lots of PhD students, too, mostly international fee payers. My main worry is that, if I don't take it, I might be asked to take on modules in a subject I used to previously teach. That subject is currently being taught out and the only remaining lecturer is likely to take the redundancy.
It's all around pretty shit.

I suspect we work at the same uni!

I think we must be at the same place @dodi1978
It's a really short timescale to take the VS. I'm quite senior and quite tempted but I suspect my Head of School would say no. I'm the only person teaching what I do and we've actually increased international recruitment quite a bit in the last few years.
I'm knackered though!

Is anyone able to say which Uni's ?

My experience…

Edge Hill University got rid of loads of Associate Tutors in recent years. They relied heavily on ATs as pretty much core staff, most repeatedly requested proper contracts but were denied meetings with Line Managers etc. I’d been there the best part of a decade, there were no signs of change. Was let go in an impromptu “Teams Chat” after finishing teaching two years ago. No entitlement to redundancy. Loads of courses being taught out so staff with contracts will be out in a few years. I was plunged into unemployment with no notice period. I believe it’s happened to potentially 100 of us but it’s been hushed up.

Partner is a Senior Lecturer at UCLan, deputy course leader, been there 30 years on the same course all that time. Two courses in his faculty were told they no longer existed over Teams meetings arranged with an hours notice.
He’s received a letter regarding potential redundancy. Some of his colleagues know they will be next and might have to take early retirement if they can afford it. Talk of downsizing to afford it etc.

His colleague at UCLan’s partner has just been made redundant after 20 years at Edge Hill too. Can’t find another job.

All of us Humanities/Arts.

I’m on a fixed term Senior Lecturer’s contract at UCLan which ends in June so it’s not looking good and I will have to job hunt outside of academia, I think.

Me too given the timings of the meetings and the wording in @dodi1978 's post. Grim times. Although some serious rallying going on in my dept (which is being disproportionately targeted). Tempted to apply for VS though. I'd rather jump now and get a decent pay out than wait and get booted out with less. I'm the main earner, but VS payout would give me, essentially, a year to retrain/ regroup....

It is very scary, as it isn’t easy just to get into another job, if you are in social sciences (from experience). You are over qualified, or such like. I am constantly afraid of redundancy, you never know what the higher powers are thinking.

It's worrying to hear how quickly this is happening for some. It can feel like we're being backed into a corner by either taking VS or risk staying & then being given twice the workload. Difficult to know what to do for the best.

What a shitshow. It is the uncertainty...that thing about being pressed to go for VS when you don't know of your programme will survive. Is it arts and hums being targeted in this one some f you are talking about? Or across the board?

Cutbacks appear to be linked to the vast pension payouts needed by Unis now causing huge cash flow issues because of the vast amount being ploughed into the funds. For years, HE staff have been on ridiculously favourable pension agreements, outside the scope of normal gov pensions or even commercial company pensions. Certainly, that is the issue at the Uni I am at

Which scheme is that? Certainly USS has been significantly pruned in the last decade and is substantially worse than public sector pensions such as LGPS, civil service etc. The silver lining on this is that it was so subantially cut back following the pandemic valuation that it is now being improved and contributions cut for employees and employers. That should have given an unexpected cut in employment costs for USS Universities from January.

TPS is much more expensive (and a much better scheme) so those Unis may well be finding it very difficult (but it's exactly the same scheme as school teachers).

It shouldn't be. If you're a USS uni employee conts have decreased. TPS is costly I agree, but the same as schools.

I've never heard the argument that pension conts are the problem, it's the UG fees and declining overseas that are the issues.

I’ve only ever been in TPS and worked at a few universities. It’s not an outrageous pension scheme by any means.

What is outside the scope of norm is the wages of the Chancellors and Vice Chancellors at every University I’ve worked at! One of my colleagues was married to one of them…she worked for fun, his wage was insane (20 times mine!) and he seemed to do very little in comparison to the people he kept making redundant.

Many of the deficits are 10 million plus -this is a bigger problem than over pay at the top

One real failure is the lack of coordination between institutions we are all trying to compete for the same students doing the same things

@SoOutingWhoCares chancellors are honorary positions and unpaid.

Sorry, yes...I meant the Vice Chancellor and other Chancellors (Pro-Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellors, Chair, Deputy Vice Chancellors etc). It's quite funny that a PP mentions a deficit of £10 million...between the number of "chancellors" of some description employed at some of my workplaces, they do eat a good few million into that deficit when it's all totalled up! Especially when your VC alone is earning in excess of £500k pa.