Laurentian University offering staff incentives to trim workforce

Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont. is looking to trim its workforce by offering employees incentives to leave their jobs.

The efforts are part of what school administrators are calling a "voluntary workforce reduction program." The plan is so the school can prepare for leaner financial times expected ahead.

"We're being proactive now so we can sustain balanced budgets in the future," University president Dominic Giroux told CBC News.

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Girouxsaid that the school isn't in financial trouble and has balanced its budget for years, but he acknowledged that the demographics of northern Ontario are showing that there likely will be fewer students in the coming years.

Plus, he added, with all the recent investments in the school, including new programs and buildings, operational budgets are expected to rise.

"What many have called the 'summer to remember' last year with significant philanthropic investments and infrastructure investments and research awards, but some of these announcements do materialize into some budget pressures,"Giroux said.

Support staff have multiple options

Several offers are available to the approximately 400 support staff at Laurentian, including taking a year's salary for quitting, moving to part-time hours, six months unpaid leave or a bridge to an early pension.

The president of the school's staff union told CBC News that he believes that eventually, some of the workers who choose to take incentive packages will need to be replaced.

"I think the university is smart enough to know that overloading people with work only leads to negative work environments and people getting sick and I don't think they want that," Tom Fenske said.

Currently, the school's support staff are the only workers who have been offered the incentives, but school officials said they are also in negotiations with the faculty union, so the packages can be offered to professors as well.