The TU Delft unions are watching the compulsory redundancies at the University of Twente with concern. Dozens of jobs are being cut in a single faculty to save EUR 6.2 million. TU Delft needs to save EUR 79 million. Will that cost hundreds of jobs? The unions feel there’s a lack of vision and want a new Executive Board to develop this first.
(Photo: Justyna Botor)
The financial problems at the University of Twente are largely caused by the Faculty of Science and Technology. It has been operating at a loss for years, which is why a reorganisation was already announced in September.
Now it appears the faculty is taking drastic measures. Not only must 63 staff members leave (46 through compulsory redundancy), but the faculty is also eliminating eight research groups. This should result in savings of EUR 6.2 million.
Causes
Twente suddenly experienced a 25 % drop in student intake in 2022, resulting in reduced income. In Delft too, the budget is under pressure. According to the Executive Board, this is mainly due to increased maintenance costs, inflation, energy prices, and staff costs. This means TU Delft must save EUR 79 million in the coming years.
To achieve this, the Executive Board has asked all faculties and services to consider how they can reduce spending by 10% (see text box below). While redundancies are ‘not preferred’ by the administrators, they haven’t ruled them out.
The chairman of the local TU Delft unions, Fred Veer, says he is far from reassured. He calculates that in Twente, 63 people must leave to save EUR 6.2 million. “If you translate that to TU Delft, I arrive at about 800 people who would need to go.” Veer says he encounters many colleagues who reach similar conclusions. “People can calculate very well.”
‘Higher education is in great danger due to all these local and ill-considered interventions’
Are UTwente and TU Delft so easily comparable? Veer wouldn’t know why not, he explains. “The vast majority of our expenditure goes to staff, and I can’t imagine our HR policy is that much more efficient.”
Demotivating uncertainty
Whether the cuts will actually lead to (so many) compulsory redundancies remains to be seen. All faculties and services must present cost-cutting plans in June, the Executive Board will make decisions in autumn, and the entire package of measures must take effect by the end of 2027.
The unions are criticising this approach. Veer notes a ‘demotivating uncertainty’ among staff and a lack of vision among higher education administrators about higher education in general and TU Delft in particular. “Universities need to develop a joint vision on efficiency and cooperation, but they’re not taking time for that. Higher education is in great danger due to all these local and ill-considered interventions.”
Long-term Vision
Additionally, Veer misses administrative continuity in Delft. The Executive Board is currently incomplete, and the two remaining members will depart in the foreseeable future. “At the same time, they are initiating cuts for the next ten years and beyond. The unions think it would be better if a new Executive Board comes in soon that can establish a healthy long-term vision.”
According to the unions, a change of guard is also urgent given past choices, with the hiring of external contractors as an example. The university service (UD) must save EUR 22 million on that. Veer: “The UD is essentially spending too much money on external hiring. This should never have happened, especially since this issue has been raised by the Works Council for years. One might wonder if we would have needed to make cuts now if this had been addressed earlier.”
‘With immediate effect’
Veer says he’s watching UTwente with concern. There, management had conversations with affected employees in recent days. A dismissed researcher told the local broadcaster RTV Oost that the atmosphere in the faculty is ‘very tense’. He is an associate professor and is losing his job at the university after twenty years. He was supposed to continue teaching in the coming weeks, but that stops ‘with immediate effect’.
A spokesperson for the Twente university saaid that ‘no one has to hand in their pass from one day to the next’, but that the dismissed employees are in principle ‘relieved of duties’. They may still supervise students if they wish, but they can also stop working immediately.
According to management, the eight research groups don’t fit the University of Twente’s profile, don’t bring in enough money, or are insufficiently involved in teaching. What will happen to the PhD candidates in these research groups is also not yet known. They are not always employed by the university but are supervised by professors or university lecturers from the research group they are affiliated with.
HOP, Olmo Linthorst/Delta, Saskia Bonger and Marjolein van der Veldt
The unions will meet with the Executive Board on Monday, 17 February.
- Location: Mekel Room, twelfth floor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.
- Time: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
- The meeting will be open to the public.
Local plans
How much must TU Delft’s faculties save and how do they plan to achieve this? This is what they say on the intranet:
- Architecture and the Built Environment: EUR 5.1 million. The faculty is drafting an ‘outline sketch’, and there will be a meeting in March to inform students and staff. There is an immediate hiring freeze, except for positions funded by sector funds (a special government pot for certain scientific fields) and temporary research positions with external funding.
- Civil Engineering and Geosciences: EUR 5.4 million. The faculty was already anticipating financial problems and is organising town hall meetings to discuss plans. Vacancies may only be filled internally.
- Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science: EUR 7.5 million. The faculty is working on three pillars: cost reduction, external funding, and increasing the lump sum, the fixed amount the faculty receives annually from TU central. EEMCS is under financial pressure due to multiple factors: incomplete compensation for inflation and collective agreement increases, strong growth in students and staff, effects of the TU budget system, and funding problems for TU-wide infrastructure (cleanroom and supercomputer). There is a partial hiring and investment freeze until the end of 2025. The management team is organising a meeting on 20 February (for employees) to discuss questions and concerns.
- Industrial Design Engineering: EUR 3 million. The management team will meet on 17 February with managers and the chairs of the local works council, the faculty student council, and the study association ‘to discuss next steps’. Town halls for all members of the IDE community will be held on 6 and 20 March.
- Aerospace Engineering: EUR 3.6 million. The faculty had already begun structural cost-cutting and improving earning capacity after the 2025 budget. The management team is now investigating what additional measures are needed.
- Mechanical Engineering: EUR 5.8 million. In 2024, the faculty took measures such as stopping vacancies from first-stream funding, not filling positions after retirement, and reducing external hiring. Although these measures help, additional steps are needed. During a lunch meeting on 13 February, the Dean further explained the process.
- Technology, Policy and Management: EUR 3.3 million. The faculty reports having already made significant savings by 2024. Cuts have also been made in the multi-year budget, for instance by not filling vacancies and by restraining spending. Currently, the faculty is taking steps to achievea further reduction in costs and an outline plan is being drawn up. An employee meeting was held on 28 January at which more information was shared. At the end of March, another such meeting will will take place.
- Applied Sciences: EUR 6.9 million. Since last summer, the faculty has been investigating where cuts might be possible. Preliminary proposals include a strategic reconsideration of vacancies, postponing or adjusting equipment purchases, streamlining maintenance contracts, or reducing expenditure in various areas such as catering, travel, and general costs.
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