Aberdeen University announces job cuts as it faces £11.2m financial black hole

Staff at the University of Aberdeen are preparing for severe cuts as the institution faces an £11.2m financial black hole.

The university is considering voluntary redundancies, pausing recruitment and freezing staff promotions to plug the budget gap.

Aberdeen University expects to have a deficit of £6.5m this current financial year. But spending is forecast to climb by at least £4.7m.

The university has yet to lay out it savings plan but staff were told on Thursday that the university needs to take “immediate steps” to address rising costs caused by National Insurance contributions, last year’s pay award, and inflationary pressures.

Cost-cutting measures will include stopping almost all staff recruitment, voluntary redundancies and pausing promotions.

A university spokesperson said: “We’ve made good progress on stabilising and improving our financial position by managing our costs, setting tough savings targets, and pausing recruitment for many roles.

“We now need to make further savings as costs for 2025/26 are set to climb by at least £4.7m due to higher National Insurance contributions, last year’s pay award, the payment of increments and inflationary pressures across a wide range of areas.

“We are taking early action to bring costs down and this includes stopping almost all staff recruitment, revisiting Voluntary Severance and Enhanced Retirement for previously declined applications and pausing the academic promotion exercise.

“The steps are regrettable but necessary to help us offset some of our rising costs and continue to navigate unprecedented times for our sector.”

The University and College Union said its members were already being forced to work beyond their contractual hours and fear workloads will skyrocket.

The announcement comes as Dundee University wrestles with the financial crisis, which was revealed earlier this year. The institution proposed job cuts, which would affect about 700 people, as it deals with a £35m deficit.

Speaking earlier this week, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said university officials are “working at pace” to bring the number of proposed job losses down after the previous figure was “unpalatable” to ministers.