STAFF at Edinburgh Napier University have been warned that due to cost-cutting measures up to 70 jobs could be axed.
Principal and vice chancellor professor Sue Rigby announced the plans in a letter to staff earlier this week.
Rigby said the institute is currently in a “financially resilient position”, but did warn that the cost base “continues to outstrip income”, adding that changes were necessary to create a financial surplus.
The university added that it was also facing changing demands for courses.
It is currently unclear which posts are at risk, or whether teaching roles will be affected.
The university has launched a consultation with trade unions including the EIS and Unison which is expected to run until mid-October with a voluntary redundancy scheme under consideration.
In her letter to staff, Rigby explained the university’s aim is to “continue to deliver what we do best - impactful education and employability, a valued student experience, and innovative research.”
She added that the university has an obligation to run in a sustainable way but “our cost base continues to outstrip our income”.
Unison's Napier University branch secretary Sharon Hall said: “Staff are understandably angry that once again they are paying the price for the university's financial problems. We could be see 70 jobs cut across three campuses.
“Unison stewards will meet managers in the next few days. We are doing everything we can to minimise redundancies and the disruption to students.”
A university spokesperson said: “Like all universities across the country, we are operating in an increasingly challenging and uncertain environment, amid rising costs and acute funding pressures.
“Demand for courses has also shifted significantly in recent years, meaning we need to adapt accordingly.
“While Edinburgh Napier University is in a financially resilient position, with no debt, we have a statutory obligation to run in a sustainable way.
“Despite substantial efforts already undertaken, our current cost base is outstripping our income, and we have no option but to reduce it to return to an operating surplus.”
The spokesperson added that Napier was committed to working with unions to “avoid or minimise the need for compulsory redundancies”.
They added that staff would be supported throughout the process.
Napier’s announcement comes as hundreds of jobs at Dundee University were lost after its principal, Iain Gillespie, oversaw the mismanagement of university finances to the tune of a £35 million deficit.
