James Cook University vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs unveils plan to cut 50 jobs at all-staff meeting

James Cook University vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs has unveiled a plan to slash more positions at an all-staff meeting held this morning at the Smithfield campus.

An all-staff meeting will be held at the James Cook University Smithfield campus on Monday to announce a uni-wide general restructure. Picture: Google Maps

James Cook University vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs has unveiled a plan to slash more positions at an all-staff meeting at the Smithfield campus, off the back of previous cuts made public last week.

On Monday Mr Biggs briefed employees on the university’s latest change proposal recommending the axing of “about 50 positions”, which amounts to a four per cent shrinking of the workforce based on a total staff number of 1110.

“This change proposal will help us continue our journey towards a long-term sustainable future for JCU by ensuring our professional services are efficient, fit for purpose and appropriate to our scale and complexity,” he said.

The JCU Cairns Campus at Smithfield. Picture: Stewart McLean

“We are addressing the continuing financial pressures we are under, working to grow our student numbers and actively manage our costs.

“We are refining our management structures and improving support functions and service delivery across JCU.”

The vice chancellor said about 20 of those 50 positions on the chopping block were currently vacant.

Refuting comments by the National Tertiary Education Union claiming Cairns would be “disproportionately impacted” by loss of positions, JCU stated one in four jobs would be lost from the Smithfield camps and the remainder would be slashed at Townsville.

Effectively that would mean seven to eight positions in Cairns were under threat.

Cairns-based National Tertiary Education Union JCU branch president Dr Jonathan Strauss said cuts to roles in student wellbeing, counselling, careers and outreach would have an adverse impact on the experience and retention of students.

NTEU JCU branch secretary Jonathan Strauss. Picture: Kristina Puljak

“You aren’t going to fix what is essentially an enrolments problem by cutting the staff that bring in the students and that help them stay and complete their courses,” he said.

A formal consultation period has now kicked off and will invite feedback and suggestions from staff and unions.

Following the period of consultation, a “change plan” will be released outlining confirmed changes.

The latest streamlining of the JCU workforce is separate to the net loss of 17 positions from the Marketing, Future Students and Admissions Directorate, as revealed last week by the Cairns Post.

It’s understood 16 of those positions would be lost from Australian campuses in Cairns and Townsville due to the directorate’s work being largely moved to JCU’s Singapore campus.

The latest round of redundancies follows a streamlining restructure in 2022 in which 145 jobs were slashed across three campuses and the institution proposed another 30 job cuts in 2023.

EARLIER

The tertiary union lashed James Cook University for what it says is a failure to take responsibility for “poor performance” while paying bosses “huge salaries” and cutting frontline jobs to save cash.

An all-staff meeting at JCU’s Smithfield campus will convene on Monday to announce a university-wide general restructure.

It follows the proposed axing of 17 positions, recommended by a change proposal targeting roles attached to the Marketing, Future Students and Admissions Directorate.

The university has been tight-lipped about exactly which of its three campuses would lose staff but the National Tertiary Education Union has revealed to the Cairns Post a total of 28 positions are being “disestablished”, 26 in Australia and two in Singapore.

The NTEU said some new positions would be created, but at lower levels than before, meaning people affected would either take a pay cut or be made redundant.

The changes would amount to a total net loss of 17 positions.

But 16 of those would be in Australia due to the directorate’s work being largely moved to JCU’s Singapore campus.

JCU’s Smithfield campus is expected to be disproportionately impacted by cuts, according to the National Tertiary Education Union. Picture: Stewart McLean

It’s understood a 44-hour work week and more repressive labour laws mean it’s cheaper to employ staff in Singapore.

Queensland Division NTEU secretary Michael McNally said a number of staff in other parts of the university had been called into meetings by management last week to discuss further redundancies.

“We will know on Monday how many are proposed to be cut and people will know just how many jobs are in the gun,” he said.

“We expect that the cuts will disproportionately impact JCU in Cairns.

“It’s the death of a thousand cuts at JCU as management again slashes jobs.”

On Saturday, a JCU spokesman said the university was facing “significant financial challenges, including softening domestic enrolments, the emergence of new participants in the tertiary sector, and increased competition, and there is a need to realign existing resources to deliver the services required to compete in the new higher education environment”.

Mr McNally said the university could not continue cutting jobs and provide an excellent education.

“There’s been a decade-long pattern of that and this has made JCU’s viability as a university campus addressing the city’s needs increasingly uncertain,” he said.

James Cook University vice chancellor professor Simon Biggs. Picture: Brendan Radke

Citing the remuneration package of JCU vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs that amounted to $840,000 – $854,999 in 2023, Mr McNally lashed the institution for axing frontline staff while paying “huge salaries” to bosses.

“JCU management needs to take responsibility for the poor performance of the university, they pay themselves huge salaries and bonuses but it is always the frontline staff that suffer,” he said.

JCU, which posted a net loss of $39.7m in 2023 and $48.9m in 2022, defended the cutting of marketing jobs by stating “changes will also deliver greater efficiencies, reduce costs, and realign functions between the teams working across JCU’s campuses,” a spokesman said.

The latest round of redundancies follows a streamlining restructure in 2022 in which 145 jobs were slashed across three campuses and the institution proposed another 30 job cuts in 2023.

JCU joins institutions throughout the county including Australian National University and the University of Southern Queensland, both of which have announced job cuts this month.

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Originally published as James Cook University vice chancellor Professor Simon Biggs unveils plan to cut 50 jobs at all-staff meeting