Robert Gordon University (RGU) puts a further 135 jobs at-risk after launching a redundancy consultation this month, following the departure of 130 staff through a voluntary severance (VS) scheme the institution launched back in March.
RGU’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Olivier, took no questions from staff at the meeting announcing the consultation. Leaving anxious staff in the dark until individual schools can provide a clearer picture of redundancy plans.
The consultation will run until January, with collective consultation ending on 20th December and individual consultation to commence in the New Year, giving already anxious staff the prospect of a worrisome winter break.
Around 100 of the at-risk staff work in the professional support services department, something which union bosses warn could affect how the university operates.
Unison’s RGU Convener, Mr Colin Jones, highlighted the “hugely disproportionate impact on professional support staff.”
Adding: “…it will mean we can’t provide an appropriate service for staff and students.”
“We are very concerned about the impact this number of job losses is going to have on the service the university can provide.”
An RGU spokesperson has said that they do not expect to lose as many as 135 at-risk staff members due to redeployment opportunities.
This is all part of RGU’s ‘Finance Transformation Project’, which began last year in a bid to reach its planned savings goal of £18.8m.
The plan is currently ‘on track’ with approximately half of the savings target having been achieved. Principal Olivier attributes savings mainly to staff who previously took VS:
“This has predominantly been achieved through staff taking up the option of leaving the institution voluntarily through mutually agreed terms.”
RGU has said these cost saving measures are to ensure “long-term financial stability” and to “future-proof” the institution.
Despite these savings, Mr Jones shared that the meeting revealed a ‘blackhole’ which had grown to around £22m.RGU’s original recurrent deficit was reported as £11.1m for the 2023/24 academic year.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Principal Olivier indicated the “significant financial challenges” RGU faced was “due to a steep drop in international student enrolments, a sustained decline in public funding, and inflationary cost pressures.”
Chief Executive of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Russell Borthwick, said: “Universities are facing a perfect storm that makes announcements like this unsurprising and sadly necessary to ensure they re
main viable.”
“Funding per student per year of study has fallen by 19% in real terms since 2013–14 and, as a result, Scottish universities became increasingly reliant on international student fees.”
“We need the UK Government to urgently review its position on welcoming overseas students and dependent families to the UK, remove impossible visa thresholds and to keep in place the post-study visa scheme.”
He also placed an onus on the Scottish Government to “address the escalating underfunding of the sector which is the root cause of the situation that has forced RGU along with every university in the land to make the kind of tough decisions we see here.”
