Staff at the University of Sheffield are set to take strike action over plans to slash staffing costs by ?23 million over the next two years.

In an announcement on 1 April, the University and College Union (UCU) said 74 per cent of members who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 57 per cent.

The vote follows proposed restructuring?that UCU leaders claim puts up to 1,000 jobs?under threat of redundancy, with Sheffield seeking to cut ?9 million in personnel costs in 2025 and a further ?14 million in 2026. Final numbers leaving are expected to be lower.?

That is likely to lead to at least 50 compulsory redundancies this year, with further job losses next year, said UCU. The union insisted that its members are willing to suspend the walkouts if the university vows not to make any compulsory redundancies.

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UCU?has previously said that the institution¡¯s goal to save ?23 million would equate to about 400 jobs being axed, bringing as many as 1,000 professional service staff in scope of the cuts.

¡°Staff at Sheffield have sent a clear message that they are willing to take industrial action to protect their jobs and the future of their university,¡± said Jo Grady, UCU¡¯s general secretary.

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¡°These cuts are too deep, too fast, and put vital student support and academic provision at risk,¡± continued Grady, a former senior lecturer at Sheffield, who added that ¡°management must now step back from the brink, halt compulsory redundancies, and enter serious negotiations with us to find a better way forward¡±.

The dispute follows a recent ¡°new schools¡± plan to cut the numbers of academic departments from 45 to 21 and restructure professional services staff across all schools.

Restructures are also being carried out in postgraduate research, employability, digital learning and faculty finance, said the union, which noted that some 300 staff had already exited the university under a voluntary severance scheme at the end of 2024.

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield said: ¡°The university has been notified of UCU¡¯s vote for industrial action, following similar actions at other universities regarding difficult decisions institutions are making to address sector-wide challenges.¡±

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¡°We expect that the vast majority of our students and staff will be unaffected by any action. Where we do experience some disruption, we will do everything we can to support our students and to minimise the impact of the industrial action,¡± they added.

The impending cuts follow a slump in international student recruitment which, according to the , has been ¡°adversely affected by UK government rhetoric and policy¡± as well as by ¡°changes to the geopolitical landscape¡± such as China¡¯s economic slowdown and Nigeria¡¯s currency crisis.

Staff at Newcastle University walked out last month over plans to cut about ?20 million from its staffing bill, with UCU members at the University of East Anglia also taking action in March over cuts. UCU members at Durham University have been?balloted on industrial action.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com