Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
University axes 250 jobs
Saturday 1st August 2009, 11:30AM BST.
The University of Wolverhampton is to axe 250 jobs in a bid to save £8 million, the Express & Star can reveal.
Spiralling pay costs, funding changes and stricter saving rules by the Government are being blamed.
Wolverhampton employs 2,740 staff at campuses across the city and in Walsall, Telford and Burton upon Trent.
Bosses today said the decision was “regrettable” and they would try to achieve as many voluntary redundancies as possible.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Caroline Gipps said: “This repositioning exercise is necessary so we can realise the aims and aspirations of our strategic plan. The university has sufficient reserves which ensure our financial future.
However, it is imperative that we move as quickly as possible towards a balanced budget with a percentage for investment.
“Our priority remains our students and their learning experience. Every effort will be made to minimise disruption.”
Wolverhampton is now in full consultation with unions and vowed to keep its staff and 23,000 students informed.
An official statement from the university said: “Universities in England are all facing challenging times and Wolverhampton is not alone.
“Rising pay costs, a change to funding methodologies, a cap on growth and efficiency savings required by the Government mean that we have to take steps to balance our books and maintain our ability to invest in strategic developments.
“To achieve this, and ensure a positive future for the university and its current and future students, we need to make £8 million savings and estimate around 250 posts need to be lost.”
Up to 30 jobs are also to go at Dudley College as part of cost-cutting measures.
By Elizabeth Joyce
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…and yet the money pit for executive ‘jollies’ still appears to be bottomless. You would not believe the waste & incompetent mangement at this University.
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This is deeply disturbing.This organisation is too top heavy we need less management & more front line staff.
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Well it is bottom of the Uni tables…..
It needs to working on improving its courses and teaching and get off the bottom and work towards getting to the middle of the Uni league table!
Otherwise it is going to get left behind.
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To many managers and to many lecturers working 2 day weeks has caused this problem. And they still argue they should have got a 8% pay rise!!!!
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This seems to be reminiscent of Bilston College! Not again! – I cannot stand the Front Page of the E&S looking like ‘Socialist Worker!’
250 Workers into £8m gives an average Annual Salary of £32,000! – Who exactly will be Made Redundant? Part-Time Lecturers on £30/Hr or Cleaners, on minimum wage of £10,000 PA? However, keep in mind that when Facilities Management Companies take over Cleaning Contracts, the cost of a £10,000 PA Employee, appears on the Monthly Invoice as £32,000! – Yet apparently this correct and proper! – It keeps the ‘Bean Counters Happy!’
As a Professor, Caroline Gipps should either ‘Put Up’ or ‘Use a Mop and Bucket!’
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The amount of money rumoured to be wasted by this management is shocking they should release those figures to show how their bad management is leading them to cut jobs of the real workers while they sit at the top like the fat cats they really are!
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To Bob Satwa
Your calculation of 32k per year per person is rather simplistic. There are far more costs related to employment than just salaries. What about Employer’s National Insurance ? What about facilities costs to allow that person to work (office, telephones, stationery, utilities etc) ? What about the indirect costs – recruitment costs, costs of payrolling staff etc etc ?
You can’t just divide the saving by the number of staff and say that is what they are getting paid. This article doesn’t even say what period the saving of 8m is over – is it one year, ten years, one month ? There is insifficient information here to make any judgement about what people are being paid.
ET
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The amount of money the uni wastes is amazing, a part of the library had its lights on constant for 5 years, brand new furniture is chucked out and old furniture is kept and moved round it’s complete madness money is wasted and now the staff have to be worried for redundancies by poor management !!!!!!!!
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