UTS job cuts probe: Executives grilled over restructure, staff stress and self-care fiasco
Executives at a leading Australian university have defended a push to sack hundreds of staff but admit the restructure is a stressful time for workers affected.
The workplace safety regulator last week took the unprecedented step of forcing the University of Technology Sydney to hit pause on plans to cut 400 jobs in the hopes of saving about $100 million.
Safework NSW issued a prohibition notice, warning the staff cuts were exposing workers to “serious and imminent risk of psychological harm.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Officials from UTS told a parliamentary hearing the order was lifted on Friday afternoon.
Vice-chancellor Andrew Parfitt said the university was still working through the timing and notice that’s required to resume meetings, where workers will be told they’re being made redundant, or affected by the restructure in another way.
“We recognise this is a stressful time,” Prof Parfitt told an inquiry into university governance on Monday.
“We’re devastated to be in a position to have to do this due to financial constraints. It is a very hard time for our community, and there’s no easy way to have this discussion.”
The restructure made headlines when staff were offered a list of “self care” tips from an outside wellbeing company to help them handle stress.
The included suggestions to “do that task you’ve been dreading, like washing delicates, organising receipts for your taxes, or cleaning a bathroom.”
Prof Parfitt said the document was offered to staff as part of the university’s general wellbeing resources, not specifically for the restructure.
But he told the inquiry he’d apologised to employees who may have felt insulted.
“There are many resources that are available. I was disappointed that that one was on the website,” he said.
Prof Parfitt also said he hoped to release a “change proposal” outlining further details about the restructure in the next couple of weeks.
As part of the overhaul, the university suspended enrolments in 120 courses, citing a lack of interest from prospective students.
Deputy vice-chancellor Kylie Readman told the inquiry less than 1000 commencing students had been impacted by the change.
“Thirty three of those courses had fewer than 10 enrolments, and a further 31 had no students enrolled,” she said.
