Job cuts at the University of Southern Queensland will hurt regional communities and increase stress among already anxious staff, the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Tertiary Education Union has warned.
UniSQ are refusing to detail exactly how many jobs will be cut in the latest redundancy round to hit the sector.
Based on union members’ information, 60 jobs have been lost already, with one area set to lose almost 40 per cent of its staff.
NTEU UniSQ Branch President Professor Andrea Lamont-Mills said:
“These job cuts are devastating for not only the people affected, but colleagues left behind who will inevitably be forced to shoulder massive workload burdens.
“The impact on Toowoomba, Ipswich and Springfield cannot be underestimated. A major regional employer shedding this many jobs will have enormous economic and social consequences.
“Staff don’t understand how UniSQ can go from having a relatively strong balance sheet just 10 months ago to cutting so many jobs.
“It points to a major failure by management to keep the university in financial health.
“Keeping staff in the dark is causing incredibly concerning levels of stress and anxiety.”
NTEU Queensland Division Secretary Michael McNally said:
“Regional universities are the lifeblood of their communities and decisions like this cut them to the core.
“Combined with more than 80 jobs set to be cut at James Cook University and an unknown number on the chopping block at Central Queensland University, this is a kick in the guts for regional and rural Queensland.
“The entire national NTEU stands in solidarity with our colleagues at UniSQ grappling with job cuts.
“Sadly, we are seeing university leaders pull the callous lever of job cuts when confronted with their own mismanagement.
“The lack of accountability and transparency is galling in the extreme.
“We need an urgent federal parliamentary inquiry into university governance to fully publicise exactly what’s going on in this broken system.”
