Employment

Over 80 per cent of union members vote for strike action after successive years or job cuts at University of East Anglia

Amid financial turmoil, post-92s are creating subsidiaries to employ staff without having to enrol them in the expensive Teachers’ Pension Scheme. But what does that mean for grant and REF eligibility – not to mention hierarchies and industrial relations in an already restive sector? Juliette Rowsell reports

Academics warn of ‘culture of fear’ at pre-eminent Welsh institution amid plans to axe courses and hundreds of jobs

Russell Group member says number of roles going yet to be determined, with compulsory departures not on agenda

The work of lobbying policymakers to make HE a higher priority is undermined by the endless pantomime of UCU’s internal politics, says Dyfrig Jones

Union says that managers of stricken institution must “think again about cutting jobs and the use of compulsory redundancies”

THE analysis reveals higher education sector has already passed feared milestone of axeing more than 10,000 jobs in a single year

Institutions ‘caught between a rock and hard place’ are attempting wholesale transformations of their operations but those affected claim schemes could be kinder for staff and students

Employees at Study Group-run centre on University of Sheffield campus to walk out after 36 staff put at risk of redundancy

University to increase staff-student ratios, merge schools and close programmes to ensure it remains ‘viable’

University becomes latest to announce staff cuts, saying it cannot rule out compulsory redundancies

University opens voluntary severance scheme after struggling on domestic and international recruitment, after cutting jobs and courses last year

Analysis of progression criteria warns ‘obsession with frequently ill-suited metrics’ only serves to ‘reinforce regional inequalities’

Russell Group institution warns that it cannot rule out compulsory redundancies after worse-than-expected student recruitment

With up to 190 staff members at risk of losing their jobs, UCU says managers must rule out compulsory redundancies

Cuts scaled back after consultation with staff, but list of academics leaving is yet to be finalised in some fields

As institution puts freeze on promotions and recruitment, and invites voluntary redundancies, union says staff should not pay price for ‘financial mismanagement’

Researcher questions whether ‘care obfuscation’ is the answer to mums’ sense of exclusion

Union says running total of acknowledged underpayments now stands at A$265 million across Australia

Staff survey results indicate one in eight employees at UK’s main research funder witnessed bullying or harassment in past year, with one in 14 on the receiving end themselves

Institution plans £20 million in ‘pre-emptive’ savings but is threatened with strike action by union branch pointing to recent budget surpluses

Northumbria leaders say modern universities will be forced to rein in pay rises if they are compelled to offer expensive Teachers’ Pension Scheme to academics

Union members fear industrial action is ‘tone deaf’ amid large-scale redundancies across the sector

Of respondents to Swedish survey who reported experiencing threats or harassment, half said a student was responsible

Remaining staff will lose access to Teachers’ Pensions Scheme as union attacks ‘Scrooge playbook’ cuts

Union considers industrial action amid long-running dispute over associate lecturer contracts

Union faces challenge to pass turnout threshold as sector finance crisis mounts

Nearly one in 10 changed employment during most recent year for which data is available, but financial crisis may have curtailed this

‘Enforceable undertaking’ with workplace regulator also includes new checks and balances and half-million-dollar ‘contrition payment’

Traditional progression metrics and unbalanced governing bodies holding female academics back, say experts

Milestone is little comfort to staff stuck on insecure contracts, says union

‘Enforceable agreement’ with leading university ‘an example for all large employers’, says workplace watchdog

Union told by employers that pursuing industrial action will shut down progress on tackling working conditions concerns

Union sees need to borrow for building projects behind latest round of bloodletting

Vice-chancellor says university has ‘done everything’ it can to reduce costs before cutting jobs

Avoiding layoffs is the issue of the hour. The UCU would do better to prioritise negotiations on pay-related issues such as workload, says Jak Peake

Union leaders warn walkouts over government pay deal will continue indefinitely 

English fee rise does little to relieve pressure on institutions, with increased staff costs likely to swallow additional funding

Announcement follows the departure of 400 staff members last year as efforts to close budget black hole continue

Burnout is rife in an era when the traditional attractions of academia to obsessives are diluted by many new duties, observes Joseph Cronin

Staff fear cost-cutting motivations behind university’s drive for more secure employment

Latest redundancy round militates against the government’s growth aspirations, observers warn

Changes will ensure compliance with new legislation, according to administrators, but unions say it is about cutting costs

Australian academics required to ‘act up’ for years before being paid for it, analysis finds

Chancellor goes ahead with 1.2 percentage point increase, hiking staff costs for already cash-strapped institutions

“Workforce change” processes under way at seven institutions likely to claim well over 1,200 jobs, with more campuses expected to follow suit

Pressure group attacks ‘shocking’ rise in ‘fat cats’, but institutions insist it is right that they offer competitive salaries

Number of institutions claiming financial exigency now into ‘double figures’

Troubled institution joins neighbouring ANU in flagging major cuts, saying it is ‘spending beyond its means’

Declines in international student numbers blamed for fresh round of university redundancies

Proposed rises in employer national insurance and levy on pension contributions could ‘unwittingly tip the balance’, warns UUK leader

New restructure proposals, ‘the last of the year’, would claim more than 100 positions

Waiving pay during Covid did not prevent redundancies, union warns members

Pandemic-style redundancies feared as universities count their losses

Employers say they will work with union on issues including contracts, workload and pay gaps – providing there is no ballot for industrial action

Shahd Abusalama claimed Sheffield Hallam breached a confidentiality agreement by disclosing details of her departure to The Jewish Chronicle in the wake of disproven antisemitism claims

Case which could have significant influence on sector response to industrial action ‘jumps the first hurdle’

At least 50 job cuts proposed as university confronts A$200 million hole caused by ‘external headwinds’ and federal policy changes

Academics whose pay was deducted for taking part in marking and assessment boycott begin legal case

UCU threatens strike action as university enacts second redundancy programme in less than six months