Planned University of Copenhagen layoffs now cancelled

Employees at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) have for a long been preparing for a major round of layoffs as a result of the impending administration reform. 100 full-time-equivalent staff were to be cut, and the affected employees were scheduled to be notified in the week starting 4 November.

But now UCPH management has made an about-turn: The round of dismissals has been called off.

Preventive measures that were launched in the run-up to the planned round of layoffs have worked, Deputy Director for Communication Jes Højen Razga announced 10 October in a news item on the intranet KUnet (needs login).

In February 2024, the University of Copenhagen imposed a qualified hiring freeze for all administrative employees. Technical and administrative staff members could apply for voluntary redundancy until the end of September 2024.

»The hiring freeze and the voluntary redundancy option have had the effect that we’re now in a situation where we don’t need to proceed with the redundancies as planned later in 2024. I’m satisfied that the preventive measures have worked so well that we can avoid laying people off,« University Director Søren Munk Skydsgaard says on KUnet.

It also states that all voluntary redundancy requests will be approved.

»It’s only this week that we have seen a full picture of staffing across all administrative areas, and the outcome of the voluntary redundancy applications. We are acting on this now. I’m keenly aware that the prospect of layoffs has been like a dark cloud over the University, and that it has affected individual employees and the working environment in general,« Søren Munk Skydsgaard says.