Up to five hundred support roles at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will be slashed as part of an ongoing restructure of enterprise services positions, as the organisation seeks to cut operating costs by $100 million.
First announced in February, the Enterprise Services Reform project was commissioned late last year by CSIRO Chief Executive Doug Hilton.
CSIRO Enterprise Services staff have been dreading the confirmation of widespread job losses since the budget and operational cuts were first announced.
Until now CSIRO Executive has declined to provide the number of Enterprise Services job cuts, however it was clear from the outset that a significant reduction was on the cards.
In an email to staff, Dr Hilton revealed the expected size of the cuts, admitting that the final tally could top five hundred. The revelation comes hot on the heels of National Science Week.
“To support CSIRO’s financial sustainability, we need to reduce costs across enterprise services by 25 per cent – which is at least $100 million. Up until now, it has been difficult to quantify this in terms of roles, due to the variety of factors at play,” Dr Hilton said.
“Based on modelling conducted as part of Wave 3, I can now share that the staff impact during Wave 3 of the (restructure) is likely to be between 375 and 500 roles.”
CSIRO Staff Association Secretary Susan Tonks slammed the admission.
“The announcement that up to five hundred research support roles could be cut represents a dark day for CSIRO and is a terrible outcome for Australia’s premier science agency.”
“These cuts are a body blow for CSIRO and have the potential to cripple research output as scientists scramble to cover support gaps.
“However, we know that research positions at CSIRO are not safe and the cuts just keep on coming,” Ms Tonks said.
CSIRO is suffering the worst job cuts in a decade. These include confirmed cuts in Health and Biosecurity (43), Agriculture and Food (30), Manufacturing (5) and now potentially several hundred (375-500) in enterprise services.
More cuts are expected at Data61 (up to 120) and there are strong rumours that there will be significant job losses in the Environment business unit (65).
Earlier this month, CSIRO Staff released an open letter calling for Science Minister Ed Husic’s urgent intervention to stop the widespread job cuts and save CSIRO.
“These current cuts are on track to be the worst since Tony Abbott slashed CSIRO funding in 2014,” Ms Tonks said.
“Staff can’t believe that a Labor Government – with a pro-science agenda and interventionist industry policy – are set to preside over hundreds of job cuts to Australia’s top researchers.”
“Science Minister Husic needs to step in, restore funding and help stop these CSIRO cuts.”
Dr Hilton said that efforts would be made to limit the potential job losses in enterprise services, including “looking for additional savings in our operating budget, term ends where appropriate, natural staff attrition, and in some cases, through voluntary redundancy.”
However, there is no avoiding “a confronting reality,” Dr Hilton warned.
Enterprise services employees who are Staff Association members and are potentially affected are encouraged to contact the union to arrange support and individual representation.
To request additional comment from Susan Tonks, please email anthony.keenan@cpsu.org.au or call 0410 330 764.
