Harvard cuts 25% of union staff at SEAS: Is it gutting the school to save its reputation?
Harvard University has laid off roughly 25% of staff represented by the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), according to internal communications obtained by The Harvard Crimson. The move is part of a broader restructuring plan prompted by financial pressures, including increased taxation and changes to federal research funding.SEAS Dean David C. Parkes announced the layoffs in an email to SEAS staff. While he did not specify the exact number of employees affected, The Boston Globe, citing an unnamed source, reported that approximately 40 staff members were laid off. The job cuts also extended to non-union employees.Rising costs and shifting funding models drive layoffsParkes attributed the decision to multiple financial challenges. According to The Harvard Crimson, he cited a rise in the federal tax on endowment income, expected reductions in US federal agencies’ reimbursement rates for indirect research costs, and changes in how research funding is allocated. “Though we have already made a number of changes, we cannot bridge the budgetary gap without reducing our workforce,” Parkes wrote in his email.He added that SEAS had been dealing with financial difficulties for years. Previous measures included a freeze on pay increases for faculty and staff, cuts to non-personnel expenditures, pausing of non-essential capital projects, and a reduction in leased space. “While we are making progress towards stabilising the School’s finances, the future we have been preparing for has changed,” Parkes said, as quoted by The Harvard Crimson.Union calls cuts unprecedented and questions financial reasoningHUCTW strongly criticised the layoffs in a message to its members, calling it “the largest cut at any Harvard school in decades,” and claiming the scale of the layoffs was “at least three times deeper than any other Harvard unit is undertaking in this challenging moment,” according to The Harvard Crimson.The union also raised concerns over a lack of transparency. SEAS administrators, when asked for a financial rationale, were “unable or unwilling” to provide data or projections justifying the decision, including estimates of future deficits and the total number of necessary layoffs, according to The Harvard Crimson.Union leaders warned that the cuts would significantly impact student and faculty services and affect the quality of teaching, research, and learning at SEAS. They urged members to contact SEAS administrators in opposition and to report instances of SEAS spending on non-critical activities, including catered events and payments to private consultants.A SEAS spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs, as reported by The Harvard Crimson.
