ABC News | 5 June 2014
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The University of Melbourne plans to cut 540 administrative jobs (15% of the non-academic workforce) by January 2016 as part of a $70 million savings program. The job cuts do not include academic staff.
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The university delivered the news to staff members at meeting earlier today. The university’s vice chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis, issued a statement after the meeting:
It was not an easy message to deliver, or receive, that the university has to undertake this reduction in the total number of professional staff. We are hopeful we can minimise the impact on staff through natural attrition as the university had a turnover of 635 professional staff last year, and 580 the previous year.
We will focus on reducing the total number of casual and fixed term staff where we can and offer minimal redundancies.
Davis has ascribed the need for the cuts in part to the previous government’s funding cuts, which cost the university $40 million a year, as well as a blowout in the bureaucracy because of his 2010 strategy to shift more administrative responsibility down to the faculties. He defended the strategy but said in hindsight the university should have acted earlier to improve efficiency.
Davis has warned has warned the university will lose up to $70 million a year more in Abbott government cuts, forcing a hike in student fees of an average of $1730 per student simply to cover those cuts .
The structural changes are a part of the university’s Business Improvement Program.
As part of the cuts some academic support services will be either centralised or automated.
The university says it plans to dedicate 80% of the $70 million in planned savings to teaching, learning and research. It has also flagged plans to hire up to 300 academic staff because of the changes.
See
Old and new cuts put uni jobs at risk, says Melbourne University VC Glyn Davis
Melbourne University staff to protest against up to 500 job cuts
