Furloughs at UW-Madison Will Continue for First Six Months of 2021
Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 -- 10:05 AM
(AP) -Furloughs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will continue for the first six months of 2021 to offset losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but Chancellor Rebecca Blank offered hope for next year, telling employees on Monday that “we expect to avoid the sort of dramatic cuts that many feared.”Blank told more than 21,000 faculty, staff and other employees in an email that the planned furloughs and a continued hiring freeze wouldn’t be enough to balance the budget that’s suffered a roughly $320 million hit since the pandemic began and that additional cuts will be announced in the next few weeks. However, a “substantial share” of the cuts will be achieved through attrition, a hiring freeze and other reductions already in place, she said.
Still, because of the uneven impact of the pandemic across the campus, layoffs will be likely in some places to deal with significant budget shortfalls, Blank said. She said plans would be structured to have “as little impact on employees as we are able.”
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