No compulsory layoffs in the University Corporate Offices after all

The news was announced last Thursday in a Workers' Council meeting. The five employees have been offered jobs in the newly established project management organisation of the Students, Education & Research (SO&O) department, the department they already work for.

Plans to set up such a team were already in place as part of the reorganisation, but have now been brought forward, explains the UU Vice-President, Margot van der Starre. The team will work on new projects from the university's Strategic Plan.

Declining numbers
The reorganisation of the University Corporate Offices is necessary due to drastic budget cuts in higher education, declining student enrolment numbers, and rising prices driven by inflation. When the reorganisation was announced in June, the university forecast that 80 to 100 full-time jobs would have to be made redundant over three years. It was still unclear how many people would be fired in the end. In September, the university still assumed that fifteen to twenty people would lose their jobs, which was adjusted to twelve in October and five in November.

The number of full-time jobs that will disappear also fell to 67. This can now be fully absorbed by natural attrition, meaning that some employees will leave the university themselves — by retiring, for example.

No compulsory redundancies were necessary in the end because UBD is taking on fewer tasks or adapting existing ones, streamlining its services, saving money on materials, and spreading cost-cutting measures over several years. Plans for the new organisation are also being implemented earlier.

Agreement with reorganisation
The Workers' Council agreed to the reorganisation plan (link accessible only with a Solis ID). The reorganisation is seen as a necessary evil due to the drastic budget cuts. The Workers Council is pleased that no compulsory redundancies are required and that the Skills Lab and central support for Continuing Education will be maintained thanks to financial assistance from the University Library and the faculties.

The Workers Council requires the Executive Board to closely monitor administrative workers' workload now that the number of colleagues is set to decline over the next few years. They must also care for employees who will be reassigned as a result of the reorganisation.

The reorganisation can now be finalised. The employees who will be reassigned have already been informed. The new organisation will start on 1 February.