BU announces 120 layoffs amid financial difficulties
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BU announces 120 layoffs amid financial difficulties
Boston University officials are laying off about 120 people in order to reduce the school’s budget by 5%. The cuts represent a 5% budget reduction. In addition to the approximately 120 staff positions that will be eliminated, BU will also no longer list about 120 vacancies. BU leaders determined that budget cuts were necessary to offset “financial headwinds,” President Melissa Gilliam said in an email to the school’s faculty and staff Monday morning. The school has publicly backed a number of lawsuits against the Trump administration, seeking to halt drastic cuts to federal funding that supports critical research. It is not clear which staff members will be affected by the cuts.
Boston University is set to lay off about 120 people in the coming days, President Melissa Gilliam said in an email to the school’s faculty and staff Monday morning.
The cuts represent a 5% budget reduction. In addition to the approximately 120 staff positions that will be eliminated, BU will also no longer list about 120 vacancies.
“Every effort has been made to limit the number of layoffs, and these actions will apply to approximately 1% of our employees. Still, we know that any reduction in staffing is painful,” Gilliam wrote in the email, which was shared with Boston.com.
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The school confirmed the cuts in a subsequent statement, citing “the challenging financial reality of federal funding cuts, rising inflation, changing demographics and more.”
It is not clear which staff members will be affected by the cuts. Supervisors and human resources personnel are meeting with the impacted individuals and more specifics will be made available after this process is complete.
Earlier this year, BU leaders determined that budget cuts were necessary to offset “financial headwinds,” Gilliam said. The school paused merit increases as a preliminary step.
Since 2017, the university’s expenses have grown annually by about 5.6%, while revenue has only grown at a rate of about 4.8%, The Daily Free Press, a student newspaper, reported.
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The school over-enrolled the graduating class of 2025 by about 800 students, generating more income offsetting some financial pressures, the Free Press reported. But whether BU has enough housing and other resources to do this again remains to be seen.
Major projects like the $550 million renovation of the Warren Towers dorm building and the $118 million effort to build a new home for the Pardee School of Global Studies are also contributing to costs for BU.
The university has publicly backed a number of lawsuits against the Trump administration, seeking to halt drastic cuts to federal funding that supports critical research. Most recently, BU joined in legal action against the Department of Defense.
Colleges and universities across the country are reeling from the actions of the Trump administration and other financial obstacles. At BU, Gilliam characterized the cuts as unavoidable and sought to project confidence in the school’s future.
“This is a day of loss for all of us. There is no way around this. We know our community may need time to adjust to these difficult changes. Yet, it is also a necessary step in ensuring our future,” Gilliam said in the email. “Over the coming months, there will be many efforts to reshape and reimagine the University in its most efficient and vital form.”
Ross Cristantiello Staff Writer Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.