UK universities cutting jobs accused of exploiting pandemic

This looks like some weird Schrödinger situation: universities want to stay open and supposedly provide teaching and support to students, and continue carrying out excellent research... but at the same time they cut jobs, including in IT departments. Because online teaching happens without people, right? There's no one preparing the online sessions, making sure IT technolologies are fit-for-purpose and running smoothly for both students and staff... and funded research projects still need to be carried out, but without staff, of course. Support staff? Who needs it... pff... cut cut cut... and if they cannot cut, then restructure and make people reapply for their own jobs, albeit on a different contract with a lower salary. Clever... I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg. Instead of addressing management issues and failed investments (or clingying to investments that don't make much sense now, e.g. expanding student accommodation), many universities seem to be opting for the quick fix: get rid of as many members of staff as possible, starting from the the base of the pyramid, i.e. the ones actually doing the teaching, research, support to teaching/research and support to students.

What inuk said above. Did they consider the worst-case scenario of debt repayments in their capital and building expansionism? Total subscription to a mantra of 'student value' and 'student experience' = 'facilities', was always too narrow. (No, I don't exonerate Brown/Browne as the ultimate cause of this folly).

The UK higher education senior management survey: a statactivist response to managerialist governance https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2020.1712693?journalCode=cshe20

University behaviour has been shameful in all this. Teaching staff are clearly regarded as expendable. All that matters is fee income, accommodation income and student feedback

Why has this come as some surprise to anyone? Companies in the private sector have been using COVID as the excuse for the redundancies they have been planning for years but didn't have the bottle to suffer the negative PR. Now they can do it without the blowback! Universities are just late to the game...

When they get rid of the admin which helps underpin curriculum delivery and research more admin tasks fall on the academics. Many won't get hours for this in their workload, just an expectation or demand that they do it - this then impacts on teaching and learning and research achievements. Cuts to administration and central services will not save higher education by recouping the losses from their poor investments and projects, unnecessary loans and some questionable governance.

Faculty have a purpose in the university? Wow. Who knew?

It is of course possible the pandemic has put university finances under extreme pressure. If enrolment has gone down, there simply won't be enough cash to go business as usual. BUT, for senior university managers to suggest that the cuts are in the interest of long term planning and strategy-- right in the middle of a pandemic -- is simply rubbing salt into the wounds of those affected. Where cash is the issue, senior managers should be fully transparent with their calculations and show staff the full details. At that point various steps that would share the pain -- caused by a pandemic, remember -- equally across the community. This could include steps like temporary suspension of promotions, automatic increments and, in an extreme case, four day salaried working week - again temporary. In the present climate, it is important to hold the community together. If instead managers go for targeted settling of scores or boast about their long term vision by inflicting pain on a small part of the community, their callousness cannot be forgiven.