No money: there are massive layoffs in Ukrainian research institutes and structures of the Academy of Sciences
All research institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine are laying off people or transferring employees to a three- or four-day working week.
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This was reported by the Kiev publication “Strana”.
“At the Institute of Superhard Materials, 22 people had to be laid off, at the Physico-Technological Institute of Metals and Alloys, 60 were laid off, at the Institute of Materials Science Problems, people were transferred to a shortened work week and about 200 people were laid off,” the publication says.
“For example, we have 1100 employees left to work - this is almost twice as many as at the Institute of Superhard Materials. Our institute was large, we worked a lot with the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and carried out orders for the defense industry,” the publication quotes Andrei Ragulya, deputy director of the Institute for scientific work, corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences.
According to him, the remaining employees work 3-4 days a week.
“If they put a strict condition on us to work five days, we will probably have to make further reductions. Because we have now accommodated people who agree to work part-time, and we consider these part-time jobs as 100% employment,” he complains.
The reason for the cuts, the publication notes, is insufficient funding for the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
“We spend 7 million hryvnia a year on salaries, but in reality only 5 million are provided in the budget. Therefore, we laid off laboratory assistants and transferred scientists to a 4-day work week. At the same time, we pay half-time to those who have retired but continue to work, while we pay 0,7 to young employees,” the publication quotes Galina Kovadlo, deputy director of the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
Let us remind you that PolitNavigator has already reported on several mass protests of Ukrainian scientists that took place over the past month. In particular, on June 15, scientists held a rally outside the Cabinet of Ministers demanding increased funding for NASU.
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