Macquarie University slashes 82 jobs to save $25million
Macquarie University will cut up to 82 academic staff to make a $25 million saving as the impact of the coronavirus on international student enrolments continues to hit the sector hard this year.
The university’s vice chancellor Bruce Dowton said sector-wide financial challenges exacerbated by COVID-19 would result in between 61 to 82 forced redundancies.
“The impact of COVID-19, particularly on international student numbers is creating a prolonged financial challenge for Macquarie and the university sector, which we have addressed to date through a combination of voluntary measures, reducing non-staff related costs and new revenue sources,” Professor Dowton said.
“We are still facing a significant gap, meaning we need to find savings by reducing our staffing profile, while building a sustainable structure with the necessary skills, expertise and culture to fulfil our teaching and research mission into the future.”
The university has already made $6 million in savings through a second round of a voluntary redundancies that were designed to minimise forced job losses. It said there remains a significant financial gap to resolve.
The staff cuts apply to three of the universities four faculties apart from Arts which had already achieved cost savings targets through voluntary redundancies.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said it plans to fight the cuts across the Science and Engineering, Macquarie Business School and Medicine, Health and Human Sciences faculties.
Nikki Balnave, president of the NTEU Macquarie University Branch, said the redundancies will have a “devastating effect” after 300 jobs were cut last year.
“This does not include the hidden workforce of casuals and fixed term employees, hundreds of whom have not been re-engaged in 2021,” Associate Professor Balnave said.
“We know that finances are tight for universities, but the answer is not to gut the workforce and delete courses – STEM included.
“Universities are crucial to the response and recovery from COVID, yet the federal government seems intent on starving them of funding. Now, more than ever, we need universities to work on new vaccines and teach the next generation of nurses, doctors, pandemic specialists and scientists.“
NTEU NSW secretary Michael Thomson described the cuts as “brutal and unnecessary” and called on the university management to negotiate over alternative measures.
“If the management doesn’t have the decency to negotiate, then we will fight these callous job cuts,” he said. “They will damage Macquarie University and destroy people’s lives and careers.”
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Anna Patty is a Senior Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald with a focus on higher education. She is a former Workplace Editor, Education Editor, State Political Reporter and Health Reporter.
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Source: Thanks smh.com