A union representing further education (FE) lecturers in Northern Ireland has questioned the legality of hundreds of proposed redundancies.
BBC News NI understands up to 300 positions are to be axed due to budgetary pressures.
Five out of six FE colleges have notified the University and College Union (UCU) of their intention to cut jobs.
The UCU has said the redundancy notices are not legislatively compliant.
It is understood college employers are hoping to complete the redundancy process on a voluntary basis.
There are more than 50,000 students taking hundreds of different courses at Northern Ireland's six FE colleges.
Following this year's budget, the Department for the Economy (DfE) - which oversees further education in Northern Ireland - has said its overall "resource spending power" had been reduced by £130m.
This has led to a £9m reduction in 2023/24 further education funding and the sector faces a funding gap of £35m in terms of future expenditure requirements for 2024/25.
