QUT staff ‘living in fear’ of job cuts amid reports of bullying culture

Staff at QUT say they fear further job cuts later in the year as reports continue to emerge of an alleged culture of bullying and intimidation at the renowned institution.

Queensland University of Technology staff say they are living in fear of more job cuts later this year, as reports continue to emerge of hundreds of long-serving employees being given the chop.

In response to The Courier-Mail’s revelations of an alleged rising culture of bullying and intimidation plus unreported job losses at the renowned institution, more university insiders have revealed their own experiences within the campus walls.

The university’s statements that about 174 permanent positions were made redundant due to a cost-cutting restructure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has angered staff, with as many as 1500 contracts also understood not to have been renewed.

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Dr Xiaoling Liu, Queensland University of Technology chancellor.

One former employee member said they were “one of many” long-term contract staff in their area of the university who found themselves out of work, with employees having put in as long as 15 years of service.

“QUT staff find it a big joke that QUT is clinging to the figure of 174 jobs losses, as the figure is a lot higher,” they said.

“When their contracts ended after years of service - contracts which had previously been renewed on a one to three year basis - staff were given an eight week severance payout and not a redundancy, regardless of years of service.”

Another employee, who remains at the university, said they were stuck in a cycle of living “contract to contract”.

“We’re not even treated like proper staff – we’re seen as disposable,” they said.

A QUT spokeswoman said there were no plans for additional redundancies in 2021.

“Like all Australian universities, QUT was looking at appropriate business transformation initiatives made necessary by revised Commonwealth funding arrangements, the material decline in overseas student numbers, and the on-going impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Chancellor Xiaoling Liu said.

QUT Vice-Chancellor Margaret Sheil said QUT had been forced to undergo a “comprehensive change process” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This process, which has followed all obligations in the QUT Enterprise Agreements, has involved extensive collaboration and engagement with staff.

“Individual concerns around the process raised directly or through union representatives have been investigated and addressed but ultimately in order to respond to the pandemic, QUT had to make decisions in relation to the structure and level of support going ahead to address the impact of the pandemic on QUT.”