“These significant cuts just go to prove that [they] aren’t about achieving efficiency but essentially about cutting research,” CSIRO Staff Association secretary Sam Popovski told Guardian Australia.
The forecast arrives amid reports earlier this year that the federal science agency would fire mostly support staff. However, the latest analysis conducted by the CSIRO Staff Association shows that at least half the job losses will affect scientists, engineers and research staff, while only about one-fifth of the losses will be in administrative support.
In a move to cut costs and reduce debt, the Australian government has closed or moved eight CSIRO research facilities. Amid fear, distrust and uncertainty, a third of its workforce said they are considering quitting, as reported in a CSIRO staff association survey last week. The federal government agency was established as an independent authority in 1949.
