Due to cost-cutting measures, the University of Wisconsin is in the process of laying off 31 employees and still leaving 156 positions vacant across campus, UW spokesperson John Lucas said in an email statement.
“We can’t confirm that employees in the 31 positions have all received notice at this time, but for those who received notices, there is a notice period and layoffs are not immediate,” Lucas said in the email statement.
The university is cutting costs to address financial uncertainty brought up in a UW news release in June.
A Cap Times article reported Oct. 29 that these changes to staffing are a part of a monthslong effort to understand how budget reductions will impact employees and students.
Schools and colleges were required to implement base budget reductions of five percent and administrative units were required to implement seven percent base budget cuts, according to the news release.
Schools, colleges and divisions had the discretion to communicate budget decisions internally — some emails remained internal between the units and employees, according to Lucas’ email statement.
Lucas said in the email that UW continues to face financial uncertainty and risks, including potential changes in federal funding, grant terminations and federal changes to financial aid. These uncertainties required UW to take steps to protect its long-term financial viability.
“UW-Madison and universities across the country have been facing a tremendous amount of financial uncertainty this year,” Lucas said in the email. “Though we hope it will not be necessary, we acknowledge that the conditions of significant uncertainty in which we are operating could require future additional budget actions.”
Some have criticized UW’s actions, however, saying that layoffs damage the UW community beyond just those who lose their jobs, United Faculty and Academic Staff co-President Barret Elward in an email statement.
Co-workers will also feel the impacts of these layoffs as they will have to pick up the slack from vacant positions, Elward in an email statement.
“It’s disappointing to see that administration has chosen to put people out of work, especially in this extremely challenging economy,” Elward said in the email.
The last time UW faced a fiscal crisis was at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, and UW made a different decision, Elward said in the email. Progressive furloughs were mandated where the highest-paid employees had the longest furloughs, meaning the university protected those who were least able to afford wage losses, according to Elward.
The 2020 furloughs were in an effort to save $30 million, as UW was estimating a $100 million shortfall, according to a 2020 UW news release. The university had also canceled new program investments and implemented a travel freeze and changes to infrastructure project schedules, according to the news release.
“The decision to lay people off is part of a much larger issue, where administration views the workers as an expense to be cut and not as the creators of the value of a UW education,” Elward said in the email. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Workers made the university great and we should have a say in how it’s run.”
An FAQ page was posted by UW to address common questions and concerns regarding budget reductions.
