Staff at the University of Kent have begun a week-long strike as part of efforts to save jobs at an institution that has undergone several rounds of restructuring.

The University and College Union (UCU) began the walkout on 24 March and it is scheduled to last until 28 March.

Staff blamed the ¡°failure to rule out compulsory job cuts¡± in professional services for the action which comes after the university announced it needed to save another ?19.5 million.

Missed international and domestic recruitment targets were blamed for the shortfall, necessitating another round of cost cutting after several degree programmes were closed last year.

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The university has opened a voluntary redundancy scheme and said it would seek to avoid compulsory job losses unless a ¡°last resort¡±.

UCU said negotiations had prompted management to promise no compulsory redundancies among academic teaching staff until December 2025, but it would not extend this guarantee to professional services staff.

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It also wanted guarantees that staff ¡°will not suffer detriment to their workload or working conditions¡± as a result of the cuts.?

General secretary Jo Grady said the Kent management ¡°needs to work with us to protect jobs and student provision¡±.

¡°Professional services staff are vital to the functioning of the university and to the educational experience we want all our students to receive.?Until management rules out compulsory job cuts, our members have our full backing in taking this action,¡± she added.

A Kent spokesperson said it had a ¡°redundancy avoidance agreement¡± with the union which meant that when savings were needed ¡°we ensure we explore all options to avoid the need for compulsory redundancies which are only ever a last resort¡±.

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¡°As we continue to work through these options with UCU, we are disappointed to see strike action and are open to continued talks to try and resolve their concerns.

¡°In the meantime we have plans in place to ensure any impact on our students is minimised as far as possible.¡±

Further strikes this week have affected the University of East Anglia and Sheffield Hallam University.?

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com