Staff representative after cancelled layoffs: »Management should have done many things differently«

The planned round of layoffs among technical and administrative staff at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) this autumn in connection with the administration reform has now been called off. Management announced this on 10 October via the university’s intranet (requires login).

READ ALSO: Planned University of Copenhagen layoffs cancelled by management

The about-turn is due to the fact that the preventive measures – a qualified hiring freeze and the option for staff to volunteer for redundancy – implemented in the run-up to the layoffs have led to a sufficient reduction in the number of staff.

The process is one that we have agreed on in the HSU committee, and it has been a long process

University Director Søren Skydsgaard

The news of the cancelled layoffs pleases Ingrid Kryhlmand, who is staff representative and deputy chairman of the staff-management collaboration committee HSU.

»This is wonderful news and I’m happy for my colleagues who won’t be kicked out after all,« she says to the University Post.

She is critical of the past process however, as technical and administrative staff for several months – for no reason, as it now turns out – have had to worry about their jobs.

»In my opinion, this has been dysfunctional from the very start, and management should have done many things differently so that things had not been so drawn out,« says Ingrid Kryhlmand.

To the University Post, University Director Søren Skydsgaard admits that the process has been a long one. He justifies it with the need to be thorough.

»The process is one that we have agreed on in the HSU committee, and it has been a long process. It has been because the entire administration reform was set in motion several years ago. And it is basically about us wanting to do it thoroughly, because it is important. At the same time, we wanted to do so as quickly as possible out of consideration for employees’ uncertainty. I cannot say whether we could have done it more quickly, but it has been a balance all along. People also needed time to consider whether they were interested in voluntary redundancy. But it’s been a long time where employees have had uncertainty about this, and I’ll be the first to regret that,« says the University Director.

READ ALSO: Board chair: We are at a watershed moment. But we will end up with a better administration

How many have left voluntarily?

According to Søren Skydsgaard, the exact number of voluntary redundancies is not yet clear, but the university director says that it is »in the order of 100«. Ingrid Kryhlmand believes that the number is closer to 130.

They were concerned that it will be a job akin to working in a margarine factory with one-sided, repetitive, work

HSU deputy chair and staff representative Ingrid Kryhlmand

The fact that it has been possible to achieve the cost reductions for the first phase of the administration reform by way of voluntary redundancies can, according to Ingrid Kryhlmand, be due to the fact that many people find it difficult to see themselves working in the new administration.

»I have talked to several people who were thinking about applying for voluntary redundancy. They did so because they were worried that it might not be a job worthy of a margarine factory. With one-sided, repetitive work, where there is uniformity and no influence on your own tasks,« she says.

The fact that a large group of technical and administrative staff want to leave the UCPH is not worrying in itself, according to Søren Skydsgaard.

»Many thousands of employees have had the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy. And among those who have taken advantage of it, there can be many different individual reasons. Some may be towards the end of their careers, and may be using it as an opportunity. Others may have other considerations. There are certainly some of them who find it difficult to see themselves in the future administration and who therefore seize on this opportunity. But the vast majority have wanted to stay,« says Søren Skydsgaard.

READ ALSO: The full University of Copenhagen administration reform story by the University Post

Management considering adjustments to reform plan

UCPH management says on the intranet that the HSU committee will now discuss whether adjustments are to be made to the original schedule and process plan.

According to Ingrid Kryhlmand, it would make sense to move the process forward of shaping the future administration.

»The idea was that when the week starting 4 November was over, we would start the final planning of where each employee would be in the future organisation. And it makes sense to move this forward now,« she says.

According to Ingrid Kryhlmand, university managers have already begun to place staff in new positions in the coming administration.

»According to the original plan, staff were allowed to comment on it in week 47. But now we want to push in the HSU for individual employees to be more involved in the planning, and in this way have a little more autonomy in terms over which placement they get in the new administration,« says Ingrid Kryhlmand.

Søren Skydsgaard also believes that it would be an advantage to bring some of this work forward.

»I can easily see this, and this is one of the things we will be talking about in the HSU committee,« he says.

In order to achieve the full savings for the administration reform, further »adjustments« will be made over the coming years. According to the university director, the starting point is that this should happen without layoffs, but he cannot guarantee it.