SMITHFIELD – About a month after Bryant University announced that it’s facing an $11 million budget deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and layoffs were looming, President Ross Gittell announced Thursday that it will lay off approximately 3% of the university’s part-time and full-time non-union employees effective Aug. 17.
In addition, Bryant will also implement involuntary furloughs of employees, which will bring its workforce reduction to 4%, Gittell said. He noted that 2% of Bryant’s full-time faculty and staff took early retirement, allowing the university to mitigate the number of involuntary exits.
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Bryant University had 692 employees, according to figures published in Providence Business News’ 2020 Healthiest Employers of Rhode Island Awards special section. It is unclear exactly how many employees will be let go, or which departments are being impacted by the job reductions. Bryant University spokesperson Cecilia Cooper did not offer specifics Thursday and deferred to the information noted in Gittell’s letter.
“This is not an easy time, but even by the standard of tough times today has been a very difficult day for our University,” Gittell said in his letter to the campus community. “The global pandemic, and its recent negative turn, is having a strong detrimental impact across nearly every sector of the economy, including higher education. Bryant’s financial position is stronger than many institutions of higher education, but we are not immune to extremely challenging public health and economic world conditions.”
Gittell also said Bryant is trying to best maintain its current plans for reopening and avoid further reductions. However, the situation is not within Bryant’s full control, Gittell said, as the pandemic’s impact on the university’s operations, “continues to unfold and will ultimately determine the operational and budgetary steps we might have to take in the weeks and months ahead.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
