‘Fundamentally unsustainable’: CSIRO to slash hundreds of science jobs

Australia’s leading scientific research organisation has told staff it will slash hundreds of research jobs, in a major blow to publicly funded science.

The CSIRO told staff on Tuesday that between 300 and 350 research jobs would be axed. That equates to about 10 per cent of all scientists employed by the institution, the staff association estimates.

The news comes after about 800 research support jobs were cut last year, along with a number of contractors. Combined, the staff association estimates that equates to cutting the agency’s size by a third.

“It’s huge. That’s a lot of people’s jobs, and a big impact on science,” said Susan Tonks, secretary of the CSIRO Staff Association. She called it “a sad day for publicly funded science”.

CSIRO chief executive Doug Hilton told this masthead the cuts were required because the organisation was “fundamentally unsustainable”.

Government funding for the agency had increased on average 1.3 per cent a year over the past 15 years, he said, while inflation averaged 2.7 per cent a year, and the cost of doing research was higher again.

“We have a sustainability challenge that is really profound,” Hilton said. “We have to make some serious choices.”

The agency also said on Tuesday it needed to find a way to invest another $80 million to $135 million a year in essential infrastructure and technology upgrades. It is unclear how that money will be found, and staff fear further job cuts could be coming, though Hilton said that would be a last resort.

“My heart really goes out to staff,” he said. “These changes are going to be felt by everybody in the organisation. And that’s sobering as a leader.”

CSIRO has also flagged significant changes in research direction, with a renewed focus on climate change, the clean energy transition and AI.

Hilton would not say which areas of research faced cuts. Rumours have circulated about the areas that would be hit hardest since senior executives in CSIRO’s manufacturing and data science departments left the agency earlier this year.

The changes and cuts came as a shock because only two years ago staff were told CSIRO’s budget was “in the black”, a senior research scientist said. “Things have been ignored and papered over.”

CSIRO received a significant funding boost during COVID from the government. Much of the money was spent hiring young scientists, many of whom were then let go when the funding expired, the senior scientist said. “We used short-term money to bring a lot of people on with a lot of promises.”

The cuts would take staff levels back to where they were before COVID, said Hilton. But even excluding the COVID money, fundamental financial problems remained, he said.

The agency has more than 800 buildings across Australia, but with more than 80 per cent of these having reached the end of their technical life, the maintenance backlog has now reached $280 million. The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness was 10 years overdue for a $1 billion refurbishment, Hilton said.

Peak body Science and Technology Australia said the cuts were “a step in the wrong direction for Australia’s research system”.

Tonks said staff were devastated by the latest round of cuts.

“This has been ongoing since the start of 2024,” she said. “It’s a long time to be in a state of not knowing what’s happening. It’s a very precarious situation for people working in CSIRO. I don’t think they have clarity on what the strategic direction is and how it’s moving forward.”

Shortly after the cuts were announced, Science Minister Tim Ayres said in a statement: “I know this news will be difficult for CSIRO staff.

“Reform is essential to make sure the facilities, research priorities and technologies of yesterday meet the needs of tomorrow. This review – the first of its kind in over 15 years – will mean that CSIRO exits or scales back research in areas where that work is being undertaken by other parts of the R&D [research and development] system and builds the foundation for strengthening and focusing effort in areas of national industrial science priority.

“Reprioritisation is difficult but essential to maintain Australia’s scientific and innovation leadership role for the benefit of Australians.”

Formal consultation with the workforce about the cuts won’t start until January, meaning many staff members will go on Christmas leave without knowing if they will have a job in the new year.