Staff at the University of Sheffield have been asked to vote in support of strike action after an announcement today from the University and College Union (UCU).

The UCU has claimed a university management scheme will place up to 1,000 academic and professional services staff at risk, which could result in 400 jobs lost through voluntary or compulsory redundancy. Strike action could take place as soon as April if compulsory redundancies are not ruled out.

The university staffing budget aims to cut £23m in this and the next academic year.

A spokesperson for the university said it was undertaking a large restructure in consultation with staff and the trade unions, with a number of staff ‘in scope’ of the changes.

They said: “We will not know exact numbers until we have concluded the formal 90 day consultation period, which is part of our process agreed with the trade unions.

“We ran a voluntary severance scheme recently to help avoid making compulsory redundancies, as well as made a range of non-staff reductions that were prioritised first. This has already made considerable strides towards the necessary savings required.

“However, there is still more to do to reduce our costs, both staff and non-staff, to ensure our expenditure reflects our income levels.”

Sheffield branch president of the UCU, Robyn Orfitelli, has condemned the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, Koen Lamberts, by stating his introduction of restructures at the university and at least 25 formal changes to management processes has impacted hundreds of employees.

She said: “It is unacceptable, and the leadership of this university needs to hold itself accountable for what it is doing to staff, students, and the future of this institution.”

Management at the university has argued that cuts are essential in order to return to a surplus in the next two years. However, the university’s accounts show that the total income grew by 1% to £859m between 2023-2024.

The accounts also state: “We continue to have healthy cash balances, with year-end cash balances of £221m.”

The union has said that after assessing these figures, the university could afford a more measured approach to its current financial situation as opposed to significantly reducing its number of staff in such a short time frame.

Jo Grady, General Secretary at the UCU, said: “There are a number of options management could take instead of seeking to axe 400 jobs, but so far there has been no attempt to work with us to use the university’s strong financial position to protect jobs or indeed to shift savings onto other areas.

She added: “We hope management begins to work with us so we can avoid any industrial unrest.”

The university spokesperson said a decrease in international students had affected its income.

They said: “We have been keeping colleagues and our campus trade unions informed and updated about the financial position and the range of targeted actions we are taking. These include reviewing infrastructure projects and reducing spending, alongside carefully managing staff vacancies and offering a voluntary severance scheme to staff to help avoid the need for compulsory redundancies.

“We are firmly committed to supporting our colleagues and continuing to work constructively with our trade unions, whilst protecting our excellent research, teaching and student experience.”

The University of Sheffield is not the only university to have expressed financial concerns after the decrease in intake of international students.

The University of Durham has opened the same strike ballot as Sheffield, with the University of Dundee staff promising 15 days of strike action.