Young opinion
“If public services were cut, the most vulnerable would be hit hardest”
If the budget cuts can’t be fought, mid-level staff will lose most of the improvements gained since 2021, fears Joanna Haupt, a co-president of ‛actionuni’.
Joanna Haupt is a co-president of ‛actionuni’, the umbrella organisation of mid-level academic staff in Switzerland. | Illustration: Klub Galopp
Four years ago, 8,600 researchers at Swiss universities submitted a petition calling for a national action plan to create more stable positions for mid-level staff. Most of these people work on fixed-term contracts, many on very small part-time jobs. With no guarantee of finding a position in one, two, or three years, they work like crazy, sacrificing their private lives and health in the hope of landing one of the few permanent jobs. This harms not only well-being but also research quality and the institutions themselves, which lose competent and experienced researchers and teachers each time contracts end.
The petition produced results. Parliament acknowledged the precarious situation of mid-level staff and the risks it posed, requesting an official report on ways to improve stability. To study this issue, swissuniversities allocated CHF 20 million, and the SNSF took it up and attempted in several ways to improve conditions. The umbrella group for mid-level staff ‛actionuni’ was invited into discussions. Without idealising the situation, we felt our concerns were finally being heard.
But at the end of last year, we learned that universities would be hit hard by the budget cuts imposed by the Federal Council. Citing only the rise in overall spending as argument for the cuts, the ‘Gaillard report’ commissioned by the Federal Council recommended eliminating programmes for research and equality, raising tuition fees, and cutting hundreds of millions from the SNSF budget.
As always happens when public services are cut, the most vulnerable would be hit hardest. If we don’t fight these cuts, mid-level staff will lose most of the improvements gained since 2021 and see 1,500 research positions disappear. Students from poor backgrounds will struggle to cope with higher tuition fees.
On 1 October 2025, we mobilised across the universities and in Bern. Next year, the protests will continue. We will resist for as long as needed, because these cuts must be stopped before it is too late – for the quality of education and research, and for the health and dignity of our colleagues. But to succeed, we need solidarity across the university: from students to professors. We are all affected. Spread the word!
