Ulster University to cut up to 450 jobs amid funding pressures
Northern Ireland's biggest university is to make around 450 staff redundant.
Ulster University, which has more than 30,000 students, employs 3,100 staff across its campuses in Belfast, Jordanstown, Coleraine and Londonderry.
On Wednesday, staff were briefed virtually about the proposed job cuts by the vice-chancellor Professor Paul Bartholomew – it is understood the scheme is currently voluntary.
A university spokesperson said: “Redundancies across the higher education sector have become unavoidable.
“To date, more than 100 institutions across the UK have downsized their staffing complement.
“Ulster University has sought to hold off on making redundancies while continuing to work with the Department for the Economy, through their reviews, on possible changes to the HE (higher education) funding model in Northern Ireland.
“It has recently been made clear to us that a sustainable funding model is not going to be forthcoming, and regretfully we must now act to reduce our costs.”
Norman Hagan, chair of the Ulster University branch of the University and College Union (UCU) said job cuts were “deeply alarming and unsustainable” and that compulsory redundancies would be “strongly resisted”.
In May last year, Ulster joined Queen’s University Belfast and the Open University in Ireland warning Stormont’s Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald that her decision not to raise tuition fees above the rate of inflation would have a “seriously detrimental impact on higher education”.
The universities warned there was a funding crisis in the sector and said current arrangements were “not sustainable”, but Ms Archibald did not approve a cap increase beyond the annual inflationary adjustment.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett said the Sinn Fein minister had “failed to bring forward a credible plan to support higher education, leaving institutions like Ulster University facing impossible financial pressures”.
“This is not just a financial issue; it is a failure of leadership,” he said. “Promises around expansion, including at Magee, now ring hollow when basic funding cannot be secured to sustain existing provision.
“The Department for the Economy cannot continue to drift while our universities are pushed to the brink.
“Urgent, decisive intervention is needed now to protect jobs, safeguard students, and secure the future of higher education in Northern Ireland.”
Ulster Unionist deputy leader Diana Armstrong MLA said the potential job cuts should prompt a conversation on the “sustainability of higher education funding in Northern Ireland”.
Meanwhile, East Londonderry MLA Claire Sugden said the update is “deeply worrying news”, especially at the Coleraine campus.
She added: “There have already been concerns about the long-term future of the Coleraine campus, and announcements like this will only add to that uncertainty.
“The immediate focus must be on protecting jobs and ensuring that the Coleraine campus is not eroded.”
A Department for the Economy spokesperson said: “Like all Departments, the Department for the Economy’s finances are extremely challenging.
"The Executive has repeatedly warned that its finances are unsustainable and urged the British Government to ensure the Executive has a proper, sustainable funding model that allows for investment in transformation while delivering quality public services.
"This announcement by Ulster University is another example of the real world consequences of those warnings not being heeded.
"In spite of a very challenging budget, the Economy Minister and Department have worked to prioritise skills delivery through our Further and Higher Education institutions and have engaged in good faith with Ulster University in relation to its budget.
"However, it is worth noting universities in England are facing similar, and in many cases, greater challenges and redundancies, despite charging students twice as much in tuition fees.”