Syracuse University Cutting Staff in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

Syracuse University Cutting Staff in Response to Coronavirus Crisis

More cuts are coming to more schools in the near future. This is just the beginning.

Syracuse.com reports:

Syracuse University makes staff cuts as part of coronavirus response

Syracuse University has eliminated some staff positions due to the financial impact of the coronavirus, the school said on Thursday.

The school said that it had laid off “less than three dozen” staff members as part of a cost reduction effort due to the coronavirus. The school revealed those cuts in a statement following an inquiry from Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.

In April, the school announced that it had experienced $35 million in unexpected expenses and unrealized revenue in the first few months of its response to the coronavirus. That included providing students refunds for room, board and fees after on-campus learning was ended abruptly by the pandemic. The school said at that time that it expected to experience additional financial challenges.

In its initial financial response, Syracuse instituted a wage freeze and a hiring freeze. A handful of the school’s highest-paid employees took a voluntary 10 percent paycut. Syracuse also halted all non-essential construction projects. As part of that response, Syracuse had also said that it expected “each administrative, academic, and auxiliary unit” to reduce their budget by 5 percent.

The school’s statement indicated that the elimination of the staff positions was a product of those reductions.

Syracuse said that it is providing staff members who have been laid off with severance packages, four months of health insurance, assistance finding another position and three months of access to its Employee Assistance Programs.

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