University of Lincoln launches consultation on restructure as it warns of redundancies

The University of Lincoln has warned of potential redundancies as it has launched a consultation on departmental restructures.

A school representative has confirmed that some jobs may be lost, but could not specify how many. A mutually agreed resignation scheme has been introduced for staff who wish to leave voluntarily.

A spokesperson for the University of Lincoln stated: "Our university has recognised that the UK higher education sector is undergoing significant change. We must face into, and adapt to, the financial implications, including structuring to further enable diversity of income, to ensure we keep delivering for our students, city and region.

"Our refreshed strategy restates the positive vision of the type of university we want to be and offers a practical plan for how we achieve it. As part of this, we have entered a significant new phase of organisational restructuring and reform.

"The university has announced a mutually agreed resignation scheme for colleagues who want to leave through voluntary exit with enhanced terms and launched a consultation on departmental restructures which may result in some redundancies.

"We’re continuing to take prudent, practical measures to balance income and expenditure as we plan for a bright future ahead. This includes careful management of staff costs, our single biggest area of expenditure.

“We anticipate the majority of staff members leaving the university will do so through the mutually agreed resignation scheme. We are consulting with our trades unions, and we will aim to mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies.”

Earlier today (Wednesday), associate professor of politics at the university, Andrew Defty, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he is "hearing some awful things about the number of proposed redundancies".

In a separate post, he stated that the university is consulting with unions and staff on redundancies, presuming "with a view to encouraging more people to take voluntary severance."

This follows an announcement from the University of Nottingham on Tuesday (April 8), which revealed it is considering reducing the number of professional service roles by 258 out of a total workforce of about 5,000, covering a wide range of non-academic positions.

University president and vice-chancellor Professor Jane Norman described it as a "critical moment for universities across the UK," due to the sector "grappling with significant financial challenges".