Saskatchewan Polytechnic staff facing layoffs

Layoffs at Sask. Polytechnic Staff at Saskatchewan Polytechnic campuses across the province are facing layoffs. Colton Wiens reports.

Staff and faculty members at Saskatchewan Polytechnic are facing layoffs as the school year wraps up.

The school confirmed it has issued layoff notices to employees at its campuses in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

Twenty-two members, including 17 academics, were handed pink slips. Another 20 faculty members are taking voluntary severances.

Specific positions won’t be filled, but the school says it is getting new programs that will require new hires.

"For the most part this year, it's related to enrollments. So, for example, if a program was not filling, we might pull down those numbers,” provost and vice-president academic with Saskatchewan Polytechnic Anne Neufeld said.

Twenty-three people were laid off last April after a reduction to the school’s operating grant in the 2017 provincial budget.

According to the school’s provost and vice president of academics Anne Neufeld, this round of layoffs and buyouts is due to industry and labour market requirements. The school’s grant is staying the same in this year’s budget.

"Sask. Poly does this every year. They revisit where their program needs are, and where the labour market demands are and they try to make adjustments accordingly. I think it’s wise stewardship on their part. Again, I’m never happy to see layoffs,” Minister of Advanced Education Tina Beaudry-Mellor.

Neufeld added programs with low enrolment numbers may be removed and more layoffs handed out.

The staff will be let go by the end of June.

With files from CTV Regina's Colton Wiens