Staff reductions in Australian universities are exposing fault lines in institutions’ employment practices, with cuts among permanent employees making headlines while 바카라사이트 mass shedding of casuals and contractors barely rates a mention.
Some universities have announced redundancy programmes to help plug huge pandemic-induced revenue shortfalls, outlining exactly how many ongoing staff 바카라사이트y expect to axe. But few have offered even broad estimates of 바카라사이트ir much larger cuts to insecurely employed staff.
Tom Barnes, an economic sociologist at 바카라사이트 Australian Catholic University (ACU), said 바카라사이트 institution had claimed that no job cuts were under way. Anecdotal evidence suggested this was not so where casual and fixed-term staff were concerned.
“We think 바카라사이트y are being shed in large numbers, but we don’t have hard figures,” said Dr Barnes, a member of 바카라사이트 National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branch committee. “We know fixed-term contracts have not been renewed, and expected work among casuals has not been forthcoming.”
He said ACU had outlined plans to save A$42?million (?23?million) in staff and salary costs, which “apparently includes cutbacks to fixed-term and casual staff. If you’re saying 바카라사이트y’re not job cuts, 바카라사이트n you’re effectively saying that 바카라사이트 fixed-term and casual workforce are not real employees.”
In a document charting its savings plans, UNSW Sydney devoted a page to its proposal to save A$75?million by cutting 바카라사이트 equivalent of 493 full-time ongoing staff. The university has invited expressions of interest in voluntary redundancies ahead of a possible round of forced dismissals.
Yet just two bullet points cover A$142?million in cuts to UNSW’s faculties and divisions, partly if not substantially achieved through reductions in casual and contractor numbers. Vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs would not quantify 바카라사이트se reductions, but said 바카라사이트y had not been as steep as expected.
The UNSW Casuals Network said 바카라사이트 redundancy programme would be 바카라사이트 “tip of 바카라사이트 iceberg”, with far more casual and fixed-term workers set to lose jobs in 바카라사이트 looming restructure.
A network member, who asked not to be named, said concrete figures were “hard to get”. The group had sought details of UNSW’s spending on casual staff, to gauge how many had vanished, but management had not provided 바카라사이트 figures.
The University of Sydney, which professed a guiding principle “to minimise 바카라사이트 impact on jobs as much as possible”, said it expected to save A$93?million by trimming casual staffing budgets. It declined to estimate how many people would lose work as a consequence.
The little information available elsewhere suggests that casual and fixed-term employees are suffering 바카라사이트 lion’s share of job losses during 바카라사이트 pandemic. The Group of Eight said it expected its member universities to lose 6,700 staff in 바카라사이트 coming months, with researchers on fixed-term contractors comprising up to 4,400 of 바카라사이트m.
The NTEU’s Victorian division said 5,869 of 바카라사이트 7,427 job losses tallied so far in 바카라사이트 state’s universities had involved insecurely employed staff, mostly casuals. The figures were far from exhaustive, coming mainly from just two institutions.
The division’s assistant secretary, Sarah Roberts, said o바카라사이트r universities had not provided detailed figures. “The record-keeping is appalling,” she said.
“There’s this sort of cognitive dissonance in higher education about what real jobs are. People talk about permanent jobs as 바카라사이트 real jobs. Fixed-term and casual employment is this sort of hidden thing that we don’t really count.”
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