Nearly 400 Swansea University staff have already left under voluntary severance in the last two years but now more cuts are needed as it warned it could not rule out compulsory job losses
A Welsh university has opened a voluntary severance scheme for staff before Christmas as it grapples with its budget despite already making cuts. Swansea University said the voluntary exit scheme would be open for professional services staff until the new year.
A new voluntary exit scheme will also be opened for some academic staff as a means to avoid compulsory redundancy. On Thursday a spokesperson for the university said it was “committed to providing a further voluntary exit scheme” for academic staff “in areas where further savings are required”.
The university which in September announced £30 million cuts this academic year, £25 million of which will come from staff costs, did not confirm which academic subject areas have now been identified as needing further savings. Asked which areas or departments, the spokesperson said: “As these plans remain under development we will not be commenting further at this stage.” Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
Compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out but the university but said that would be a last resort. The UCU union warned compulsory job losses were a red line and may prompt industrial action.
Blaming pressures such as falling numbers of international students, the institution warned that like many other universities, it must make savings to ensure its future financial sustainability.
The UCU said Swansea University has made £50 million cost savings made over the last two years as part of a “financial sustainability programme” which has seen nearly 400 staff leave under voluntary severance scheme and the removal over nearly 200 vacancies.
Confirming the latest voluntary severance schemes, a Swansea University spokesperson said: “The UK higher education sector is facing a number of challenges, exacerbated by significant changes to the international student recruitment context. In common with many other universities, Swansea University needs to make savings to ensure our future financial sustainability.
“To date, we have made progress towards securing those savings through the careful management of vacancies and the provision of a generous voluntary exit scheme for staff. Earlier this month we communicated to colleagues that we have opened a voluntary exit scheme window for our professional services (non academic) staff, which will remain open until the new year.
“We also communicated that, in some academic areas, we are now developing plans to secure the remainder of the savings we require this year. As compulsory redundancy remains a measure of last resort, we have also committed to providing a further voluntary exit scheme opportunity to academic colleagues in those areas where further savings are still required.
“We continue to engage with our campus unions to explore all opportunities for redundancy mitigation across our community. Swansea University remains committed to providing an excellent student experience and high-quality teaching and to conducting world-leading research.
“We are working hard to ensure that any essential savings do not adversely affect our core mission. We are committed to remaining a multi-disciplinary, research-intensive university, and have no plans to close academic departments or disciplines.”
Universities across Wales had a combined £77m+ deficit at the start of the academic year in September. Universities in Wales and across the UK have been shedding jobs and making cuts as they face the twin pressures of rising costs and falling income.
This has been exacerbated by falling numbers of international students, who pay far higher fees. The drop has been blamed on tougher competition internationally and the UK government has also tightened visa restrictions on overseas students.
Estelle Hart, chair of Swansea University branch of the UCU union, who is also chair of UCU Cymru, said: “The latest announcement of £25 million of cuts to the pay budget means staff at Swansea University face their third year of upheaval and uncertainty.
“Our members are being asked to do more with less, a real term pay cut coupled with increased workload, all while being unsure if their area will be the next to see further job losses.
“I regularly hear from members whose lives have been put on hold by this uncertainty, who can’t make a permanent home for themselves or start a family because they don’t know if their job is safe.
“We are still hopeful that we will avoid compulsory redundancies, but this remains a red line for UCU and we are currently consulting our members over possible industrial action due to the university’s inability to rule them out.
“There are local issues in Swansea but these issues have been exacerbated by the crisis in higher education across the UK, a crisis which needs a political solution.”
The UCU expects to begin formal consultation on the latest voluntary redundancies in early January.
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