Redundant numbers

Freedom of information requests by Playbook shed some light on recent redundancy schemes at Russell Group universities.

A redundancy scheme by any other name smells just the same. But whether it’s a “voluntary exit scheme” or “staff restructure”, “employee rebalancing” or “managed departure programme”, such a process—where universities seek multiple redundancies at the same time—will no doubt be wearily familiar to most Playbook readers.

Since December, there have been about 10 such programmes announced by institutions in the UK. Playbook has covered several, including the voluntary redundancy schemes underway at Queen Margaret University, the University of Reading and Cardiff University.