There are two ways in which TU/e is having a hard time financially. Due to high inflation and considerable salary increases agreed in the collective labor agreement in recent years, the university already reported a deficit of 1.5 million euros in 2023. The structural deficit, however, amounts to 27 million euros, Groothuis announced in a Strategy Update (intranet) in October. This doesn’t yet include the government budget cuts, which amount to a total of one billion euros for higher education. The government contribution that universities receive from the ministry is also decreasing, ​​by at least 10.5 million euros per year for TU/e. As the university ​​wants to continue investing in, among other things, lab facilities – for which 24 million is needed per year – it’s facing a net deficit of almost 60 million euros.

That money has to come from somewhere. “We’ll cut 12.8 million from the departments,” says Groothuis. 9.5 million of the required cuts are imposed by the minister, who discontinued the starter and incentive grants. That cutback has been translated to the departments one-on-one. Although there will be no forced layoffs, the cutback does affect the size of the workforce. It means that “we can no longer appoint new temporary academic staff. The departments themselves will have to come up with another 2.3 million in cutbacks,” says Groothuis.

Staffing measures

The support services – such as Finance and Control and Real Estate – will also need to tighten their belts. They have made plans to save 2 percent on their budget each year for the next four years, ultimately amounting to a total structural saving of 8 percent. According to Groothuis, this will largely be achieved by not replacing employees who retire or leave for another reason. “In addition to not replacing people who leave of their own accord, we will also limit the hiring of external staff,” he says. According to Groothuis, the staffing measures will bring in a total of 5 to 6 million euros.

The Tu/e board member isn’t completely reassured that the cuts will stop here. “We have a minister who still has a lot of things in the pipeline. The cuts from The Hague are like a train, to which an extra car is constantly being added. I fear we aren’t finished yet.”
Groothuis gives the example of a letter Minister of Education Eppo Bruins sent to the House of Representatives. It announced the scrapping of 350 million euros worth of subsidies, partly at the expense of the Dutch Research Council (NWO), which will be able to fund fewer research projects as a result, which in turn may affect TU/e. “Cutting NWO means cutting the universities,” says Groothuis.

Exeptions

It’s also unclear which measures the ministry will take to curb the intake of international students. “We simply don’t know the financial impact of this yet.” The expectation is that the consequences for TU/e ​​will be limited due to the tight labor market in the Brainport region, as exceptions have been made in this regard in the draft version of the Internationalization in Balance Act. But as long as the act isn’t finalized, there will be uncertainty.

The potential additional cutbacks that are yet to be fleshed out haven’t been included in TU/e’s budget for the moment. “If you assume the worst-case scenario and make drastic cutbacks, you’ll inflict a lot of damage. We have chosen to make a professional assessment now. You have to remain alert at all times, make good assessments, and try to remain calm above all. That’s also our role.”