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300 likely to retire from UB
About 300 UB employees likely will take incentives and retire this year, providing the university with a gross savings of about $18 million, the UB Council learned at its meeting on Monday.
Scott Nostaja, senior vice president and chief operations officer, reported that at this point in time, about 200 employees are taking the UB voluntary separation incentive targeted mostly to faculty and professional staff members. About 100 workers are taking the state Early Retirement Incentive, which was largely aimed at classified employees.
Nostaja said that of those 300 soon-to-be retirees, 50 are faculty members who will be replaced. He also said some professional staff members will be replaced.
UB announced in April that it was offering a one-time incentive to faculty and staff to leave their positions at the university in an effort to manage ongoing state budget reductions. UB’s state operating budget has been cut nearly $60 million over the past two years, with an additional $19.5 million reduction coming in the state budget that was approved last month.
UB’s biggest expense is personnel costs, Nostaja said, and it was estimated that the university could achieve “substantial savings” if 225 employees in the cohort targeted by the university’s incentive—full-time employees ages 55 or older with at least 20 years of service—retired this year.
The retirement of 300 employees will provide a gross savings of $18 million to UB, while costing the university about $5 million, he said—approximately six months pay for each retiree, plus Title F leave at full pay for one semester for each faculty member. Since the retiring faculty and some of staff members will be replaced, the net savings for the university will not be known for some time, but it still will be “substantial,” he added.
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