Restructuring results in 20 firings

Approximately 20 University employees have been fired as part of administrative restructuring, according to Executive Vice President John Fry. No replacements will be hired for their positions. Fry would not specify which jobs in particular are being cut. But he explained that the number of positions vacated over the past two years that will remain unfilled is significantly higher than the number of actual layoffs. Although Fry would not provide a specific number, he estimated that the total is "in the hundreds." Administrative restructuring efforts began last month after Fry revealed his reengineering plans to the University Council at its October meeting. Since then, Fry has reviewed several departments in the University administration to look for redundancy or inefficiency. The 20 positions that will be eliminated are being phased out because they are not crucial to the mission of the University, according to Fry. He said there will be more layoffs over the next three years as administrative restructuring continues. "We are just beginning the process," he said. "We don't want to do everything at once like AT&T; or IBM because that's sort of a corporate method. The number [of layoffs] will be growing over time." Clint Davidson, the new vice president for human resources who took office five days ago, also said the pace of restructuring will pick up once all the plans for reengineering are finalized. "I don't know that any decisions have been made," he said. "I don't know anything about numbers or positions. It's all still in the planning stage." Another part of restructuring will entail determining which vacated positions get filled, Fry said. "We're beginning to evaluate open positions more carefully," he said. "All new openings have to go through me personally. It's my way of slowing down the pace of hiring." By examining vacant positions before filling them, the administrative restructuring team may be able to eliminate many of the unnecessary jobs at the University, Fry said. He said future layoffs will be targeted at all levels of the University -- not just support staff or professional staff. "We're not targeting any particular class," he said. "We're just trying to eliminate work that doesn't add value. What really matters is to get the work out of the system." Fry said he expects to see layoffs distributed fairly evenly between grade A-1 professional workers and grade A-3 support staff. A-3 Assembly Chairperson Karen Wheeler, an administrative assistant for the Center for Community Partnerships, could not be reached for comment. And Penn Professional Staff Assembly Chairperson Ira Winston, who directs computing for the Engineering School, said he did not know how his constituents would be affected by the restructuring. Fry said he has tried to set up a system to ease fired University employees out of their jobs. He said he established a coordinator in his office to try to shift employees from one part of the University to another -- rather than firing them outright. "We have 30 days for in-placement," he said. "We are trying to find them positions within the institution for which they are qualified. If within 30 days that hasn't worked, we go to out-placement." Fry added that two workers have already been relocated to different sections of the University administration under the in-placement program. The University is also working with two outside firms specializing in placing laid-off workers in new jobs, Fry said. He added that the University is also providing resume consultants and performing job searches for former employees. "We care about our people and we're trying to do the right thing in a bad situation," he said.