Tech varsity to make 230 staff redundant

The Auckland University of Technology is expecting 230 redundancies among a number of cost-cutting measures, despite making a $12 million surplus in 2020 and 2021.

Documents obtained by Stuff – signed by AUT vice-chancellor Damon Salesa – outline ‘‘significant proposed organisational change[s]’’ that are expected to start before the end of this year.

About 230 full-time staff – 5% of its workforce – will be let go in order to ensure the university’s financial stability, the documents said.

The bulk of these redundancies will be completed this year and staff ‘‘in a position to be declared surplus’’ will receive notice with effect on Friday, November 25 .

A number of programmes offered by AUT have also been designated ‘‘no longer strategically aligned with future direction’’ of the university.

This includes courses from the faculty of design of creative technologies and faculty of culture and society.

The national president of the Tertiary Education Union, Tina Smith, described the move as ‘‘shocking’’ and ‘‘incredibly short-sighted’’.

Smith pointed to AUT’S annual reports, which state the university made a $12.8m surplus in 2021, after a $12.2m surplus in 2020.

The 2021 net profit was almost double its projections ($6.855m surplus).

‘‘What our economy, country and businesses need right now are skilled workers and tertiary education is fundamental to training those skilled workers,’’ Smith said.

‘‘They are killing the golden goose by cutting such a large number of jobs at once and will feel the consequences of that in the future.’’

Stuff has approached AUT for response on the redundancies in light of its positive financials.

In a general statement yesterday afternoon, Salesa said the proposal was the first of its kind in the university’s 22-year history.

The statement cited a drop in international students due to Covid-19 lockdowns and border restrictions, alongside growing inflation, economic pressures and a ‘‘buoyant employment market’’ as the reasons why.

‘‘This is a difficult time for AUT, and we are focusing on caring for and consulting with our staff so that our way forward is the right one,’’ Salesa said.

AUT has 4354 staff, including the equivalent of 2178 full-time permanent and fixed-term employees.