QM Management has now confirmed they are planning a massive wave of restructuring of all Professional Services (PS) staff across the University, via the ‘Professional Services Operating Model’ and the ‘Professional Services Enabling Plan’ (which is part of the QMUL Strategy 2030).  This restructuring will affect all PS staff – in Schools, Faculties and central services. The plans confirm that ‘cost-savings’ of 20-25% are sought, and this will be achieved via a reduction in staff numbers, meaning 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 of PS staff may face redundancy. This is the largest attack on QM staff for decades.

Colleagues on Professional Services are affected by repeated restructures, the non-replacement of departed colleagues so their tasks have to be covered by remaining colleagues, failure to provide adequate support, threats of AI replacements, etc. At this point, HR has notified about 59 potential redundancies. These affect:

  • ITS, including the service desk and the Technology Enhanced Learning Team
  • PGR coordinators in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Professional Services Education Team in the Faculty of Science and Engineering

We are hearing that individuals are approached for one-on-one conversations with HR or linemanagers about taking severance packages. We encourage everyone to be aware of their rights in those one-on-one conversations — see the blogpost here.