Around two-thirds (66%) of research staff are employed on fixed-term contracts, some less than a year in length. The findings are from a new UCU report.
University researchers do important work, such as helping to develop Covid vaccines, enabling UK institutions to tout their credentials as research powerhouses through the Research Excellence Framework, and helping to bring billions of pounds of funding into university coffers. Yet UCU's "Support for Research Staff" report lays bare the extent of shocking 'gig-economy' style employment practices at some of the most prestigious universities in the UK.
The report is based on freedom of information (FOI) requests to the 103 UK higher education institutions that employ at least 20 research-only staff and/or where research staff made up at least 5% of the academic staff, combined with Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data on research staff terms of employment. The results, published for the first time, paint a damning picture of the sector's employment practices. Key findings include:
- around two in three research staff are employed on fixed term contracts, including 88% of research staff at the University of Oxford, 96% at King's College London, 80% at the University of Manchester and 96% at London School of Economics
- nearly a third of universities (30%) were unable to say whether research staff were redeployed at the end of their contract. Of those institutions that did respond, redeployment levels were as low as zero
- only one employer offered enhanced paid notice periods to research only staff on fixed-term contracts
- most employers paid only statutory redundancy pay to research staff dismissed at the end of a fixed-term contract.
