Latest news with #staffmorale
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Professor erupts amid Australian National University's $250m cuts
A senior academic has opened up about the staff crisis gripping Australia's premier university as it works through plans to cut $250 million from its budget by next year. Morale is 'incredibly low' among Australian National University (ANU) employees who are being 'worked to the bone' due to recent cuts, with further job losses flagged by management. That's according to Liz Allen, who accused ANU executives of running a 'slash and burn approach' to budget repair and having 'no insight into to the reality' of day-to-day work. 'Staff simply don't have the resources to do their job and that means that education is being impacted,' she told 'Research is being stifled, and staff are being worked to the bone … it's the worst it's ever been.' The Commonwealth-funded university announced in October its Renew ANU plan, led by vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell, saying it 'must reform to put us on a financially sustainable footing'. It followed a cap on international students imposed by the federal government, with the Canberra institution losing 400 spaces compared to 2024 enrolments. ANU announced 41 redundancies for staff in June, from its Information Technology Services, Information Security Office, and Planning and Service Performance division. This month, it revealed another 59 jobs were in line to be cut from the colleges of Science and Medicine, Arts and Social Sciences and the Research and Innovation Portfolio. Chief operating officer Jonathan Churchill told staff at a recent town hall that ANU had 'recorded significant financial deficits since 2020'. 'Last year our operating result was a $140 million deficit,' he said on June 5. 'We know we need to get to a break-even operating result in 2026, and to do that we need to make really significant adjustments to the university cost base. 'We're looking for a $250 million reduction in costs overall – including $100m of salary cost reductions across (20)25 and (20)26.' Mr Churchill said the university was 'a bit over halfway' toward that target 'but obviously there is still more to do'. He said ANU had introduced significant hiring controls and reduced the number of academic colleges from seven to six as part of cost-cutting measures. Dr Allen said enrolments in her classes had increased 72 per cent since 2024, from 134 to more than 225 students. Despite this spike, she said she had no contracted teaching support as she prepared to teach her first class on Monday. Last year she had two support staff. 'I'm exhausted,' Dr Allen said, revealing she spent her weekend working unpaid ahead of the first day of semester. 'I don't have anyone currently contracted to help me teach upwards of 11 tutorials, two lectures, do all the marking, (and) maintain the integrity of that learning environment to ensure … that ANU certificate of educational attainment is worth the paper it's printed on.' She said colleagues were anxious about losing their jobs and were 'taking sick leave at unprecedented levels'. Dr Allen said staff were also unconvinced by the numbers ANU has put foward to justify the cuts, saying they had already been revised down: 'even by their own account, they don't appear to know what the figures are'. She resigned from the university's governance council in April after 95 per cent of respondents to a union poll said they had no confidence in the Chancellor – former federal minister Julie Bishop – and Dr Bell. The vice-chancellor, Dr Bell has previously acknowledged the 'hard time for our community' but that 'we are going to keep having to make hard choices'. 'I am really hopeful by the end of the year that we are in a much better place than we are now,' she told ABC last month. A spokesperson for ANU said in a statement to it was 'on a journey to achieve long term financial sustainability'. 'Our current operating model is inefficient and places bureaucratic obstacles in the way of our staff doing good work,' they said. 'That's why we'll be redesigning services to work in more contemporary ways.' Federal Senator David Pocock has been a fierce critic of ANU's handling of its restructure, claiming it had 'misled' him on consultancy expenditure during senate estimates. He revealed ANU had spent more than $1.1 million on one firm alone, and had engaged three others regarding its renewal project. Staff were sent guidance this week on how to 'respond to disruptions … in relation to the current tensions surrounding' plans for change at the university. It follows protests over the planned cuts involving staff and students in recent weeks. A report by the Australian Financial Review this month stated 175 people had accepted voluntary redundancies on top of the 100 job cuts announced in June and July. The National Tertiary Education Union has estimated that up to 650 staff could go to meet the stated $100 million savings from salaries. The university has refuted data from Workplace Gender Equality which appeared to show its headcount dropped by 797 in the 12 months to March, saying the agency only offered a 'snapshot' and counted casual staff as full-time workers. The union's ACT division branch secretary Lachlan Clohesy has said there was 'no continuing financial rationale for job cuts at ANU'. 'Our view based on the cuts that they have already made is that they have already achieved the target and there is no financial justification for further cuts,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
BCP Council pay structure to be unified six years after merger
Council staff in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will be on the same pay structure for the first time since the three councils became one six years of employees doing similar jobs at BCP Council have been on different rates of pay since the unitary authority was formed in years of negotiations, GMB and UNISON union members voted in favour of the latest least 92% of staff will see either an increase or no change in their pay from 1 December, subject to formal approval by councillors in July. Staff facing a pay cut will have their salary protected at current levels for a further 18 months, the council ballots held in June resulted in 83% of UNISON members and 77% of GMB members accepting the resources and governance councillor, Jeff Hanna, said: "Currently, we still have staff being paid at several different rates for doing the same job and that cannot be acceptable."It has been a significant source of anxiety and concern for our workforce and it has understandably affected staff morale."I firmly believe this is the best offer we could have made to our staff considering the limitations on the council's budget, and it would allow us to achieve the fairness and equality in our pay and grading structure that has always been our primary aim." The new structure will cost the authority a further £1.7m, which will require formal approval.A report to cabinet and the council will set out savings to meet the additional southern region senior organiser Nick Day said it had been a "long process", adding: "GMB's members were are at the forefront of rejecting these proposals the first time around, and then after two more subsequent offers. "GMB was the only union to reject and we have therefore secured and negotiated vastly improved terms that satisfy the majority of our members' concerns." You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cardiff University defends job cuts process amid crisis claims
Cardiff University bosses have defended the way a process to cut hundreds of jobs and axe some departments has been evidence to a Senedd Committee, Vice Chancellor Prof Wendy Larner said it had been "difficult" but they had taken "the right approach".Prof Larner was asked whether announcing plans to close some departments, including nursing and then "backtracking" had been wise in view of the impact on staff morale and the institution's comes after a union claimed the process had led to a "severe and urgent mental health crisis" among staff. Proposals initially included cutting 400 jobs and closing some subject areas including music, modern languages and nursing, which will now be during the consultation period and more than 150 staff leaving voluntarily also led to a reduction in the number of posts to be cut - currently down to 69 by 2029-30 Prof Larner told MSs. She said she was "delighted by the quality of the alternative proposals" which enabled them to change the initial plans "quite significantly".But she confirmed the business case going to the university council for sign off on 17 June would still mean stopping ancient history and religion and asked whether she had any regrets about the process, she said she regretted that some members of staff had learnt their jobs were at risk through media coverage after a "leak" of also expressed regret that the university had received an "undue share of attention" for the cuts despite many other universities facing similar challenges."Our intention all the way through has been to ensure that Cardiff University is successful for the future," she said. Prof Larner and chairman of the University Council Patrick Younge's appearance in front of MSs follows the University and College Union's (UCU) claim there was a "total health and safety crisis" at the said there had been a "comprehensive breakdown of trust and morale" between university bosses and staff."I think we've worked really hard to do what we can to ensure that staff have been adequately supported", said Prof Younge said the university had been "blindsided" by the UCU referring it to the Health and Safety Executive when it was due to agree a strategy to address the union's to the union's move, he said he was "deeply disappointed in some of the behaviours." Mr Younge outlined the financial challenges facing the university and said its reserves had to be spent on securing the university's future - including improving halls of residence which, he said, required a spend of £300m to £ about the university's new campus in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, Prof Larner said the university had spent money on "due diligence" but the campus, which opens in September, was paid for by partners in said so far there had been 186 application for the two foundation courses initially offered on the site which was part of a "slow rollout".In response, Cardiff UCU said it remained "deeply concerned" about the proposed added the changes risked affecting the university's "ability to contribute" to teaching, research and training in Wales.
