We acknowledge the financial impacts that are faced by the University of Technology Sydney in response to COVID’19. We hope that the redundancies currently being considered in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and elsewhere are truly being employed as a last resort, and that all other avenues have been exhausted. 

The impacts of redundancy on the financial and emotional wellbeing of your staff cannot be overstated. The academic job market was difficult and competitive before COVID’19. In the current climate there is very little hope that any academic made redundant will find similar positions elsewhere. A redundancy at this time is career ending for these people, all of whom have studied hard and worked hard—in most cases over decades—to get to where they are. Many have young families to support.

Given the inevitably dire impacts, it is paramount that the process by which individuals are selected for redundancy be conducted as fairly and transparently as possible.

Unfortunately, the process being followed by leadership in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology is extremely opaque. Despite multiple meetings and the exhaustion of most of the allocated consultation period, individuals who have been selected for redundancy have not been able to receive straightforward answers to even basic questions about this process, such as:

• How was the pool of positions eligible for redundancy identified?
• What is the size and composition of this pool?
• By what criteria were individuals within this pool ranked and selected for redundancy?

The little information that has been provided is far from reassuring. We have been repeatedly told that individual merit has not been considered. Consequently, among the individuals selected for redundancy are people who have received recent promotions, recent recognition for their exemplary teaching and impactful research, and recent successes in obtaining external funding for their research. We cannot fathom how it is in the best interest of the university, its students, or its partners to let these people go.

We urge you to undertake an urgent review of the change management process currently being followed by leadership in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. Please ensure that this process is conducted with the transparency and fairness that your staff deserve.

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