Uni staff ‘sick’ as jobs threat pervades lives

For Aberdeen University lecturers facing redundancy, the holiday season was a nightmare.

Since the end of November, about 30 jobs have been under threat.

The prospect of industrial action is now looming over the Old Aberdeen campus, with tensions escalating.

Lecturers have revealed struggles with anxiety caused by job uncertainty.

Faced with decreasing numbers of student enrolment, university chiefs launched a consultation on the future of the modern language department in December.

It came on the heels of a university-wide meeting in October, where Principal George Boyne told staff that his “very strong preference” was to avoid job cuts.

However, a month later, all language lecturers received letters stating their careers were at risk.

At the same time university chiefs announced a voluntary severance scheme.

Amid intense public outcry, management backtracked on a plan to cut all language degree programmes in December. However, a second proposal, which could see more than 50% of staff in the department go, remains under consideration.

Members of academic trade union UCU are voting on whether to take strike action over redundancies.

Speaking to us, two modern language lecturers explained how the stress of potentially losing their livelihoods had affected their health.

One, who asked to remain anonymous due to fears of reprisal, said: “The weeks leading up to the Christmas break were pretty horrible and very upsetting. It was really hard to switch off.

“It did not feel like the holidays for a good period.”

The language lecturer said the uncertainty surrounding their future employment had affected them physically.

“The anticipation of coming back to work has made me feel sick, and my heart has raced at times. It’s been quite bad.”

Another added: “Returning for a new year and a new semester under those circumstances is very hard.

“It’s hard to prepare for classes that you don’t know if you are going to teach beyond this year.”

Despite steps in the right direction, the staffers told us that university leadership must ensure staff members are able to retain their jobs.

One of the lecturers said: “I’m hoping the ball is in our court more than it was previously, but that remains to be seen.

“There are a lot of things which require reassurance on the staffing level and on the vision for modern languages in the future.”

The other added: “We need the security of knowing our jobs aren’t at stake.

“It’s impossible to be as creative and constructive as we are encouraged to be while we’re still under threat.

“You can’t threaten people and expect them to perform their best.”

A spokesperson for the university acknowledged what has been a “very challenging period” for lecturers.

The university is offering a counselling service, 24/7 access to a staff helpline, and their HR team’s advice.

TENSION: Modern languages lecturers are suffering mentally over threats to their jobs.