University of Lincoln warns of potential job cuts

The University of Lincoln has warned of potential redundancies, as it seeks to balance its books.

A spokesperson said it had entered a “significant new phase of organisational restructuring and reform”.

Most of the cuts would be through a voluntary redundancy scheme, with enhanced terms. However, the spokesperson was unable to rule out compulsory job losses.

Dr Owen Clayton, branch chair of the University and College Union said his “heart sank” when he heard the announcement.

The university recognises the UK higher education sector is undergoing significant change, the spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The spokesperson added: “We’re continuing to take prudent, practical measures to balance income and expenditure as we plan for a bright future ahead. This includes careful management of staff costs, our single biggest area of expenditure.

“We anticipate the majority of staff members leaving the university will do so through the mutually agreed resignation scheme. We are consulting with our trades unions, and we will aim to mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies.”

On Wednesday, Prof Andrew Defty, from the university’s politics department, stated on social media that he was “hearing some awful things about the number of proposed redundancies”.

Dr Clayton said staff were in a “permanent state of anxiety” since the last announcement of job cuts in 2024 and the latest announcement was “worrying”.

“We went through a large process last year and thankfully we did manage to avoid compulsory redundancies,” he said.

“But we still lost over 200 people and everybody was extremely stressed because you have to absorb the workload of having fewer staff.”