University Of Northampton staff shocked by threat of job losses
GV of The University of Northampton, Avenue Campus. TERM-TIME, YVONNE.
A UNION representative at The University of Northampton said staff were “very shocked” after it was announced that 78 jobs were to be axed.
The Chron revealed yesterday that a string of redundancies would be triggered by the completion of the Professional Services Review in June.
Details of a consultation paper stated that 22 jobs were set to go in information services, which runs IT and library-related resources; 12 will go in research and knowledge transfer (R&KT); 10 in marketing and 10 in student administration services.
Martin Fage, UNISON representative at the university, said meetings were being held with the hundreds of members affected by the cuts this week.
He said: “We are really concerned for our members who were very shocked when they were informed of the results of the review. They were not expecting the number of jobs losses to be so high.
“I think it is a false economy to cut jobs as there have been cutbacks over the years anyway. The university is regarded as the number one for added value and this has been achieved with the support of the staff.
“These cuts could jeopardise that.”
Mr Fage said a number of university employees had joined the union as a result of the impending job cuts.
The university had consulted relevant unions prior to Monday’s announcement and a 30-day redundancy consultation period is now in place, scheduled to end on September 20.
The university has also set up a counselling service for those threatened with losing their jobs.
Staff taking redundancy will be paid 2.5 per cent of gross salary for every year of service up to 20 years. The new structure would be in place on October 10, three weeks after the start of the new university year.
A spokesman for the university said: “The University of Northampton is currently reviewing its professional services and is in consultation with staff and unions.”
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Finker
Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 07:00 PMThings change, new systems become cheaper that means they undercut the cost of doing it with staff, new ideas do the same. There are always lots of factors that change. Just becasue people were once employed to light street lamps that then became unnecessary doesn't mean they weren't necessary before. I agree that outsourcing is offered as a saving and then results in hidden or additonal costs, and that mangement too often make changes just to show they are doing something.
lady muck
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 11:11 PMIf the Uni can get by without these staff, what have they been doing in previous years ?...my worry is that these jobs might be outsourced at even greater costs or worse, the redundant staff will be re-employed as 'Advisors' or 'Consultants'.
willi eckaslyke
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 08:47 PMTheCount and I love Mankind....it's PEOPLE we can't stand
Jabberwocky
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 07:09 PMCount you cannot be 'shocked' for 5 years! Shock is sudden, transient, immediate. You are a penny-pinching misanthropist who's constant hand wringing on these pages makes a lot of us quite nauseous. Do you EVER have a good word to say about anything or anybody?
Finker
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 03:58 PMYou should have applied for a job at the Council, you would have been paying yourself then and everything would be fine.
TheCount
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 03:33 PMI've been shocked for the last 5 years at how much tax I have to pay to keep public sector workers in well paid cushy jobs with pensions I could never dream of.
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