SHEFFIELD University is looking to axe jobs to help bridge a £25 million annual hole in its funding – and has sent emails to almost 6,000 staff seeking volunteers for redundancy.
University officials are aiming to make savings over the next three years due to a forecast gap between predicted income and costs.
No figure has been put on the number of jobs to go – that will depend on the size of salaries of the staff agreeing to leave by the deadline of July 24. Paid overtime has also been axed, while recruitment of new staff will be highly restricted.
The university believes it will need to save £15 million on staffing costs over the next two financial years.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Burnett said many universities around the country were facing similar problems, especially those with a strong reputation for research.
"Our approach is one of prudence in the face of significant financial challenges, and one which we believe will secure our quality and international position for the future," he said.
"We are not the first university to announce such measures, and we are determined to protect our quality and world-class teaching and research."
Sheffield is experiencing difficulties as funds supporting its research have been cut back following a recent national assessment, while it says its staffing costs have risen rapidly.
Student numbers from the UK and EU have been capped by the Government, while the recession has resulted in lower levels of research funding from industry and charities.
Sheffield is also expecting to be hit by further cuts to public sector spending which are expected to affect all universities over the next few years.
Financial officers want to increase income by attracting more overseas students, gaining permission to take on more science and engineering students, seeking more research funding from abroad and backing research projects which will generate income.
A spokesman for the University and College Union said they would be working with the university to ensure there was no need for any compulsory redundancies.
"We are also advising staff as to their options with the voluntary severance scheme."
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