A Glasgow college is proposing 75 staff job cuts over “significant financial pressures”.
City of Glasgow College called the move a “last resort” as they tackle a loss of £26 million from the college sector’s budget.
Bosses blamed “real-term funding cuts, rising inflation, spiralling energy costs, and increased staff costs” for the compulsory redundancies.
They said the college will adjust to the “new reality” and that the wellbeing of our students and staff remains a priority.
The planned cuts come as the campus rises to address a funding shortfall of £6 million next year.
These redundancies will be subject to consultation with our staff and trade unions, according to college bosses.
Principal and CEO of City of Glasgow College, Paul Little, said: “The loss yesterday of £26 million from the college sector’s budget further compounds significant financial pressures from real-term funding cuts, rising inflation, spiralling energy costs, and increased staff costs.
“Given the scale of the funding challenges, the college has a substantial multi-year forecast budget deficit to address.
“In response, we have worked tirelessly to undertake a range of efficiency measures and generate additional income which has improved our budgetary position this year by some £6 million, mainly through a Voluntary Severance scheme and not backfilling vacancies.
“Despite these budgetary improvements, we are also forced to address a funding shortfall of £6 million next year and, regrettably, have exhausted all other possibilities except the last resort of proposing 75 compulsory redundancies, subject to consultation with our staff and trade unions.
“When colleges thrive, Scotland’s economy thrives, and we are at the forefront of tackling skills shortages and closing skills gaps.
“Emerging from the pandemic, Scotland’s public finances are under significant pressure.
“Colleges have always been resilient and adaptive tertiary institutions and will adjust to this new reality.
“I fully understand that this will be a very concerning period for those in the college, and the wellbeing of our students and staff is a priority, so we will be providing extra levels of support and assistance to those directly affected and minimising the impact on learning and support for our students, who are some of the most marginalised in society.”
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here