Northwestern is set to eliminate more than 400 staff positions as it continues to grapple with a $790 million federal funding freeze in place from the Trump administration, multiple people familiar with discussions told The Daily.
Staff from several schools across the University, including the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the McCormick School of Engineering, told The Daily that administrators had informed them of plans of staff layoffs hitting.
In a University-wide released message on Tuesday, administrators confirmed it will begin the process of eliminating about 425 positions across the University, with half currently vacant, and reduce the University’s budget “attributable to staff” by about 5%. Notices about these position eliminations should occur in the next 48 hours, administrators said.
Administrators said NU currently faces a “significant budget gap” that cannot be bridged without cutting personnel costs. Those costs account for 56% of the University’s total annual expenditures.
Ahead of the staff reductions, leadership from schools and other units in the schools were told to “think strategically about how to minimize the impacts to their units, our workforce, students, and the University,” administrators said.
“Like many of our peer institutions, Northwestern faces mounting financial pressures that threaten the University’s immediate and long-term financial stability. Over the past several months, the University has taken several measures to address these pressures,” a spokesperson told The Daily.
The spokesperson did not immediately respond to The Daily’s inquiry on which schools and departments would be most affected in this decision.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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