Otago University sheds 107 staff in latest redundancies

Otago University is cutting back on staff. Photo / NZME

The University of Otago has cut another 107 staff and further redundancies could be on the cards at the embattled institution.

A total of 190 staff have applied for voluntary redundancy in the latest round, and the university said it had accepted 107 with a further 10 still in progress.

Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Helen Nicholson said in a statement this amounted to 81 full-time equivalents (FTEs) and would create a permanent saving of $9 million from 2025.

‘’It will save $1m this year,’’ she said. ‘’Although the voluntary redundancy round has closed, we will still consider applications on a case-by-case basis.’’

The job cuts follow the 103 voluntary redundancy applications Otago accepted in January last year.

Nicholson said the university remained in deficit and required permanent savings of $61.5m by the end of 2025 ‘’so we can return to a surplus in 2026′'.

‘’This year, 2023, we need to save $25.8m and we have already achieved savings of $13m,’’ she said.

‘’We have identified a further $8.7m of possible savings which would result in $21.7 of the $25.8m. We still need to identify $4.1m of further savings this year.’’

Nicholson said the university had identified possible savings of $38m through initiatives including reducing capital expenditure and new revenue.

‘’We still have a further $23.5m to find,’’ she said.

‘’We therefore need to continue with permanent savings identification which may include staff redundancies and management of change processes.”