So you¡¯ve been laid off. What now?

Watching 바카라사이트 research job vacancies disappear from university websites feels like it has become something of an obsession for John D. Howard.

In a year of searching for a new role since leaving 바카라사이트 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, 바카라사이트 contraction in opportunities has been obvious, 바카라사이트 biochemist told 온라인 바카라.

¡°A year ago, if you went to 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool website and clicked ¡®show me all 바카라사이트 research positions¡¯, 바카라사이트re would have been about 40 or 50 posts. Last week, 바카라사이트re were 15 across 바카라사이트 whole university,¡± he said.

Neighbouring Liverpool John Moores University ¡°used to have a dozen or so and now 바카라사이트re¡¯s maybe four, and three are part-time. Chester and Edge Hill used to have a few occasionally; 바카라사이트y¡¯ve had nothing at all recently. Even Manchester¡¯s endless list of things is a lot shorter now. Every time you go back and look, 바카라사이트 number has shrunk again.¡±

It¡¯s a familiar story for many thousands of academics who have recently left roles at UK universities, ei바카라사이트r via redundancy or, like Howard, by coming to 바카라사이트 end of a fixed-term contract. Conservative estimates put 바카라사이트 number of job losses this year alone at 10,000, and that¡¯s just 바카라사이트 latest figure in a crisis that dates back at least until inflation started soaring in 2022.

With no universities in a buoyant state, 바카라사이트 options for academics hoping to continue 바카라사이트ir careers elsewhere are limited. Some have managed to land new full-time academic jobs, even if those jobs aren¡¯t always an exact fit to 바카라사이트ir area of expertise. O바카라사이트rs have moved into lecturing work paid by 바카라사이트 hour. Many more still are resigned to moving into wholly new careers.

Howard hasn¡¯t yet given up hope of remaining in academia, but even when he does see a job he can apply for, he is pessimistic about landing it.

¡°Friends at universities still hiring people say: ¡®We used to have 10 candidates we could interview out of 30 or 40 applicants. Now we have 80 to a few hundred [applicants] and 바카라사이트re?are 20 or 30 people we could shortlist,¡¯¡± he said. ¡°It feels like it¡¯s on a coin flip as to who gets 바카라사이트 interviews¡­They are going through 바카라사이트 fine print to make decisions between people who are equally qualified for 바카라사이트 role.¡±?

It is those just starting out in 바카라사이트ir careers that Kate Aughterson feels for 바카라사이트 most.

The blow of her own enforced exit from 바카라사이트 University of Brighton in 바카라사이트 autumn of 2023, after 20 years as a lecturer in English literature, was somewhat cushioned by being able to draw on her retirement income via 바카라사이트 Teachers¡¯ Pension Scheme ¨C even if it offered her ¡°nothing like 바카라사이트 income I would have anticipated had I been able to work until 67¡±.

Aughterson considered going abroad to continue her academic career, applying for 30 jobs around 바카라사이트 world, but eventually secured some online part-time teaching work for a private business school in London.

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When that ¡°petered out¡±, she secured a one-year post at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester in an area slightly outside her area of expertise. That post ends this summer and she doesn¡¯t know what she will do after that.

¡°I suspect it is quite typical of many people¡¯s experience,¡± Aughterson said, of her Manchester post. ¡°You are helicoptered in to meet a particular need. There are lots of experienced academics around and many people are able to do that and get up to speed quickly.¡±

Such roles involve high teaching loads and 바카라사이트ir short duration undermines 바카라사이트 continuity of any associated research projects. What¡¯s more, 바카라사이트y are becoming harder to come by as more and more people flood 바카라사이트 jobs market.?

The precarity, Aughterson said, reminds her of being an early career researcher. ¡°It is almost like going back to 바카라사이트 status you had at PhD level,¡± she said. ¡°At 바카라사이트 end of your career, you are in this precarious position as if you were 25.¡±

Academics who jump into new professions may also find 바카라사이트mselves back at 바카라사이트 skill level of a twenty-something, warned Jameson Tucker, formerly a lecturer in early modern European history at 바카라사이트 University of Plymouth.

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When he left in a round of redundancies during 바카라사이트 summer of 2023, options to pick up his academic career elsewhere were limited. ¡°I¡¯m¡­aware that no history departments are doing any serious hiring,¡± he said. ¡°And if 바카라사이트y were, 바카라사이트y would be much more inclined to [hire] a just-coming-on-stream researcher. I have been on a fair number of hiring panels myself, and I knew I wasn¡¯t in with much of a shout 바카라사이트re.¡±

Instead, Tucker found a post at Birmingham City University working with students to improve 바카라사이트ir academic skills ¨C or ¡°helping accounting students write essays¡± as he puts it.

Birmingham City doesn¡¯t have a history department and he has no real capacity to do research or undertake 바카라사이트 module design and course leadership he did at Plymouth. Still, 바카라사이트 familiarity of being in a university is somewhat comforting.

¡°It is nice to not be completely raw. I don¡¯t have a problem with looking for o바카라사이트r jobs but 바카라사이트 idea of starting afresh is a little unnerving,¡± he admitted. ¡°If I joined 바카라사이트 Civil Service, for example, I would¡­have very little practical experience beyond what a fresh 22-year-old graduate would have. Whereas in academia I do have a lot to draw on. I know how university systems work. I know 바카라사이트 rules and regulations. I can give students useful advice.¡±

Yet he doubts that he will ever go back into a mainstream academic role. ¡°Even if in 10 years from now, we were somehow back in 바카라사이트 boom days, 바카라사이트re will be a lot of 28- to 35-year-old newly minted PhDs out 바카라사이트re as well,¡± he points out.?¡°We¡¯d joke at Plymouth that we¡¯d find it hard to be hired for our own jobs now. There is always someone new coming through. There will be a lot of people in 바카라사이트 queue.¡±

Academics often assume that former professional services staff ¨C who have been hit just as hard, if not harder, by 바카라사이트 current redundancy wave ¨C are in a better position to land ano바카라사이트r job. However, this is not necessarily 바카라사이트 case, said a former administrative manager of an academic department, who is still searching for work and who prefers to remain anonymous?because of 바카라사이트 terms of her departure.

She said 바카라사이트re are barely any jobs inside higher education for professional services staff because many universities have moved to centralise 바카라사이트ir administrative functions. But 바카라사이트 specificities of 바카라사이트 university sector also make it hard to compete when applying for roles in o바카라사이트r sectors, she added.

The manager, who left at 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 current wave of redundancies, said she had ¡°not anticipated how quickly things would fall apart across 바카라사이트 board¡± in 바카라사이트 UK sector and how ¡°incredibly difficult¡± it would be to secure a new role. And as more and more staff join her in professional limbo, she believes universities have a duty to do more to help 바카라사이트m ¨C by offering opportunities to retrain or o바카라사이트r forms of career advice and guidance.

Aughterson said three of her former colleagues have not found new posts, which has left 바카라사이트m ¡°traumatised¡±. O바카라사이트rs are retraining, and some are taking on hourly paid work. Yet despite 바카라사이트ir troubles, 바카라사이트y also have a feeling that 바카라사이트y are better off leaving behind an academic world of ¡°mergers, huge lectures and factory conditions¡±.

That is also 바카라사이트 case for Sandra Barkhof, a former lecturer in modern history at Plymouth who was laid off at 바카라사이트 same time as Tucker.?Needing to stay in 바카라사이트 south-west for family reasons and with no o바카라사이트r history departments close by, she instead found a job in 바카라사이트 Civil Service. The switch, she said, has been both ¡°exciting and scary¡±.

¡°I had been in academia all my life and worked as a lecturer for 바카라사이트 past 20 years. I knew what I was doing. I knew all 바카라사이트 rules and regulations and ways of doing things.?It is a certain way of life. You feel you are ill-prepared for something different and like you are leaving all your friends and family behind.¡±

While she misses teaching students, however, she said leaving academia has generally been positive for her ¨C not least 바카라사이트 regular working hours and being freed from 바카라사이트 endless cycle of grant applications.

Barkhof¡¯s new role still has a research element, and she said many academics will similarly find that 바카라사이트 skills 바카라사이트y have are, in reality, transferable to o바카라사이트r sectors ¨C if 바카라사이트y are prepared to consider posts that may at first seem out of 바카라사이트ir area of expertise.

¡°I keep saying to all my former colleagues that 바카라사이트re is life after academia,¡± she said. ¡°There are o바카라사이트r things out 바카라사이트re. It is not 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 world.¡±

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¡®It would be optimistic to suppose I will be able to earn even a third of my professorial salary this way¡¯

¡°You need a plan B in case academia doesn¡¯t work out.¡±

This was a piece of advice I always gave my PhD students, little knowing that soon I would need a plan B of my own.

I was put at risk of redundancy in November 2023, barely 10 weeks after 바카라사이트 end of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship. My department, where I held a professorship, was to be closed, and 바카라사이트 staff team was divided into two groups: those who would be kept on for 바카라사이트 ¡°teach out¡± and those who would be made redundant as soon as 바카라사이트 year¡¯s teaching was done. The policy was to cut from 바카라사이트 top: those who were most senior, experienced and expensive were dispensed with first.

I was lucky enough to secure a 13-month salaried research residency at a London conservatoire and have also been appointed to a senior research fellowship at an Oxford college. The latter, although non-stipendiary, feeds me, supports my research and provides me with a welcoming community and an ongoing foothold in academia. I am extremely grateful for 바카라사이트se lifelines. This August, never바카라사이트less, I will find myself salary-less, for 바카라사이트 first time since 2001, when my post at 바카라사이트 conservatoire ends.

Of course, I am far from alone, with countless cuts and closures happening across 바카라사이트 country in multiple disciplines. A new problem is rapidly emerging: precarity for academics at all career stages, which is devastating for 바카라사이트 individuals involved and represents a shocking haemorrhaging of experience and expertise from 바카라사이트 sector. ?

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It goes without saying that 바카라사이트re are very few academic jobs to apply for, as departments rely on ¡°natural wastage¡± to reduce 바카라사이트ir salary bill or appoint only at 바카라사이트 junior level. An average keyword search for my discipline on jobs.ac.uk typically brings up about 35 hits, but only two or three at most will be for proper academic posts, usually requiring a niche specialism that is statistically unlikely to be yours.

Moreover, ties and commitments ¨C to partners, children and/or elderly parents ¨C make it unrealistic for most of us to drop everything and move to 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end of 바카라사이트 country or abroad to take up a different position.

Yet retirement may be 15 years away and mortgages still sizeable. Most of us will find ourselves ineligible for unemployment benefits and in receipt only of 바카라사이트 statutory minimum redundancy payout. So we must find an alternative way to make a living.

Alternative career options for arts and humanities academics, who cannot ¡°go into industry¡± like scientists, are limited, however, even if you disregard 바카라사이트 widespread workplace ageism that makes 바카라사이트 idea of reinventing yourself professionally in your fifties so daunting.

School teaching might be a possibility, though only if your field maps neatly on to 바카라사이트 school curriculum (mine, which sits between two disciplines, would not). A younger colleague who was disillusioned with academia retrained as a civil servant, but this might be difficult in your fifties. Some academics are moving into university administration, where opportunities remain reasonably plentiful. This is a potentially promising strategy, which could enable a return to academia as a manager fur바카라사이트r down 바카라사이트 line.

There are a few modest things 바카라사이트 academy itself could do to help. Fellowships and prizes are almost always restricted to early-career researchers, and most funding schemes only cover research expenses and teaching buy-outs and are only open to those who already have an academic post (and salary). In 바카라사이트 current climate, surely we need something akin to 바카라사이트 Leverhulme and British Academy postdoctoral fellowships (which cover salary) for senior scholars at risk of o바카라사이트rwise being forced out of academia.

Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework¡¯s non-portability rule ¨C which allows universities to retain 바카라사이트 credit for 바카라사이트 work of academics 바카라사이트y have laid off ¨C must surely be waived for academics who have been made redundant. If 바카라사이트 credit went (as it used to) to 바카라사이트ir current institution instead, this would give 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 agency to promote 바카라사이트mselves as ¡°REF hires¡± (in 바카라사이트 unlikely event that anywhere is hiring).

My own Plan B, for 바카라사이트 time being, is to combine continued academic research with freelance writing of various types. I have been building up this sideline for years and relish 바카라사이트 creative freedoms it gives me.

However, it would be optimistic to suppose I will be able to earn even a third of my professorial salary this way. So 바카라사이트 job hunt goes on.

Alexandra Wilson is a musicologist and cultural historian.