With low staff morale, many are expected to jump at the chance to leave ANU. Photo: Laura Liu.
The National Tertiary Education Union is hailing the ANU announcement of voluntary redundancies as a win, given staff were facing being tapped on the shoulder to leave the university as part of plans to cut its recurrent costs by $250 million a year.
ACT branch secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy said the ANU’s move to a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) was the result of union pressure.
“From the very start of the Renew ANU process [to put ANU on a financially sustainable footing], it’s something that ANU didn’t agree to prior to job losses last year, but now they have,” he said.
“Obviously, nobody likes job losses, but it’s much better with voluntary redundancies where those that want to go are able to go and those that want to have a better chance of staying.”
The ANU announced the VSS on Tuesday, saying there will be a three-week window from 25 February for staff to apply.
“The VSS has been designed to help achieve necessary financial sustainability while supporting staff who may wish to explore new opportunities outside ANU,” it said.
“Participation is entirely voluntary, and applications will be considered based on operational requirements.”
Details such as eligibility criteria, application processes and key dates will be released to ANU staff by Tuesday, 25 February. The scheme will close on 14 March.
Mr Clohesy said hundreds of jobs were expected to go in the first half of the year, after more than 100 left last year.
Change plans were imminent in several Colleges, and in some areas, more than 20 per cent of academic positions could be lost.
Mr Clohesy said the ANU had never said just how many jobs would need to go to achieve its aims, but the union had calculated at the start of the Renew ANU process that the savings they were seeking to make equated to 638 full-time equivalent positions.
He expected there would be a strong take-up, given the ANU’s low morale.
“The exact terms of the package will be released next week so that people will have a clear idea then whether it’s going to be something which is attractive enough for them to put their hand up, but I think a lot of people will be interested, and that’s in part because of the work environment at ANU,” Dr Clohesy said.
“It’s not a positive place at the moment,” he said. “A lot of people will vote with their feet.”
Dr Clohesy said professional staff restructuring was continuing, which last year proved a prelude to job cuts.
The NTEU is proceeding with its Vote of No Confidence in Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell next week and marking the official start of voting with a rally in Kambri on Wednesday, 26 February, at noon.
It is also preparing for a Senate Estimates Watch Party on 27 February.
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