University personnel concerned about possible job cuts have been advised to ‘bake sweets’ and ‘tidy their bathroom’ as a consulting firm aims to reduce the budget by millions.

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has engaged consultants to trim $100 million from its finances, potentially resulting in course eliminations and over 400 job losses.

An insider at the university previously informed the Daily Mail that a number of employees and students were ‘worried’ about the reductions, with their courses ‘hanging by a thread’.

The university then announced on Thursday that new enrolments for 146 courses across six faculties for 2026 would be suspended temporarily.

Employees were directed to check an internal wellbeing hub for reassurance about their employment concerns, which included a compilation of 50 ‘self-care’ ideas viewed by the Daily Mail.

The list told staff to ‘do that task you’ve been dreading, like washing delicates, organising receipts for your taxes, or cleaning a bathroom’. 

Suggestions included: ‘Play an upbeat song and tell yourself, “I’ll tidy up my room only while this song is playing”… Ensure you brush and floss your teeth daily… Acquire a new talent through a YouTube tutorial.’

The list also advised staff to start a relaxing tea ritual, write a positive review for their favourite restaurant, and bake some desserts.

National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) National President Dr Alison Barnes told Daily Mail the memo was a ‘tone-deaf trivialisation of job cuts’. 

‘It’s disgraceful that staff already facing the trauma of threatened job losses and course suspensions are being told to “wash delicates” or “bake a dessert” while their livelihoods hang in the balance,’ she said. 

‘This tone-deaf trivialisation of job cuts is another shocking example of Australia’s broken university governance system… This just added insult to injury.

‘Staff are being treated with utter contempt by UTS management, who would rather spend $5 million on external consultants to cut jobs than invest in staff, the university’s most precious resource.’

The school’s Faculty of Design and Society – including communications, education and languages courses – and the Faculty of Health face the largest number of course suspensions. 

They numbered 60 and 33 respectively. 

KPMG consultants and accountants have been working on the controversial program to identify areas for redundancies – the Operational Sustainability Initiative (OSI). 

A Freedom of Information request, submitted by the ABC, revealed the university paid KPMG about $5million to design the OSI. 

Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parfitt sent a memo to staff saying, the suspensions would be ‘temporary’, and came due to low student enrolments. 

The university has not yet made a final decision about which courses or jobs it will cut. 

In June, workplace safety regulator SafeWork NSW confirmed they would launch an investigation into the university’s handling of proposed staff cuts. 

An anonymous tipoff to the watchdog claimed the university’s alleged failure to consult staff could pose ‘psychological risks’ to UTS’s employees, the Australian Financial Review reported. 

Managing psychological harm has been a legal obligation required of employers since 2022 in NSW. 

The latest QS World University Rankings indicated a steep drop in the quality of Australian education.

There were 25 Australian universities that had dropped in rank this year, with only two squeezing into the world’s Top 20.

The NTEU’s Dr Barnes said the industry required ‘real reform’ in order to improve.

‘Just two days ago, a Senate inquiry heard ANU staff’s harrowing evidence of bullying and intimidation, which is a symptom of the sheer lack of accountability university bosses operate under,’ the union president said.

‘Now we have further proof that governance across our universities is in free fall. 

‘We need real reform to restore accountability and transparency in our universities, which must prioritise staff, students and society instead of corporate business models imposed by overpaid executives.’ 

A UTS spokeswoman said the university ‘continually reviews its course offerings’ to ensure its curriculum is relevant to student and employer requirements. 

‘The courses being suspended for new intake are those which have low student enrolments. 

‘Our priority is to be a student-centred university offering an outstanding student experience and a curriculum and courses that reflect student demand and interest,’ she said.

Professor Parfitt said the call was an ‘operational decision’. 

‘I want to be very clear that no decision has been made to discontinue any course,’ he said in an internal email.

‘The temporary suspension of new student intakes into some courses does not affect any current teaching arrangements, staff roles, workloads or employment conditions.’