The 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Tasmania will ask its staff to forgo this year¡¯s 2 per cent pay rise in a bid to save an estimated 50 jobs, as more Australian institutions adapt their spending to depleted post-pandemic budgets.

UTas said union leaders had endorsed its savings plans, which would ¡°address non-people costs first¡± and ¡°retain choice to the greatest extent possible¡±.

Vice-chancellor Rufus Black vowed to seek voluntary redundancies before forced separations and to give internal applicants preference for jobs. He outlined plans to borrow A$130 million (?72 million) over four years ¡°so that costs are shared between current and future generations¡±.

¡°This is a once in 100-year event¡±, and the loan will enable UTas ¡°to not just cut our way out of this but to see the burden shared across time¡±, he said.

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Professor Black said the university needed to reduce its salary bill by between A$40 million and A$50 million a year to address a coronavirus-induced shortfall of around A$34 million in 2020, and between A$60 million and A$120 million for each of the next three years.

By then the university¡¯s debts would exceed its investments by some A$80 million, overturning the ¡°slightly positive¡± net position at present.

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¡°It will very much depend on how border restrictions work,¡± he said. ¡°If¡­international students were able to come into the country under careful health and quarantine procedures, that would be a very different outcome to one where they can¡¯t come at all. We¡¯re not doing crude cutting because we need to allow for [that] possibility.¡±

Universities Australia has modelled the pandemic¡¯s budgetary impact on the sector at between A$3.1 billion and A$4.8 billion this year, and up to A$16 billion by 2023. Chief executive Catriona Jackson said the losses could jeopardise up to A$3.5 billion of annual university research.

¡°If universities are unable to continue funding this activity, Australia¡¯s ability to innovate its way out of the Covid-19 recession will be severely hampered,¡± she warned.

UTas has agreed to give an independent national committee oversight of its job cuts over the next year, effectively adopting the ¡°national jobs protection framework¡± that was negotiated by union and university leaders only to be rejected by about 20 institutions.

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Some of the proposals require changes to the university¡¯s enterprise agreement. They will be put to a vote by UTas members of the National Tertiary Education Union, ahead of consideration by all staff.

La Trobe 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ is seeking similar changes and has scheduled votes for 15 and 16 June. Vice-chancellor John Dewar repudiated a newspaper that La Trobe was ¡°at risk of going broke¡±, but said adoption of the framework could save the equivalent of 225 jobs in 2020 and 2021.

Southern Cross 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ has proposed cancelling two annual pay rises and inviting staff to cut working hours, as it scrambles to save up to A$58 million over the next two years.

¡°I cannot sugar-coat this,¡± vice-chancellor Adam Shoemaker told staff. ¡°There is no option of a return to what used to be thought of as the ¡®status quo¡¯. That ship has sailed permanently.¡±

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Swinburne 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ has opened consultations on voluntary redundancies as it confronts a A$51 million deficit in 2020 and A$101 million for each of the next two years. ¡°We have done all that we can to cut costs,¡± said vice-chancellor Linda Kristjanson.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com