Australian scientists feel strain during pandemic amid job cuts and pay freezes

A quarter of Australian scientists have struggled to carry out their work due to anxiety and mental stress during the pandemic, while one in 10 has seen a drop in their paid work hours, a new survey suggests.

At a time when they have been playing a key role in the response to Covid-19, the survey of more than 1,000 scientists and professional researchers indicates the sector has been under strain due to job cuts, pay freezes, changes to work roles, and the impact of juggling working from home while caring for children.

The release of the survey comes amid mounting job losses in Australian universities, which have seen revenue plummet due to the loss of international students and an inability to access the government’s jobkeeper wage subsidy.

Federal education department officials told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that universities had announced job cuts totalling 4,729 to date.

The results of a survey of 1,059 scientists, carried out in May but released on Wednesday, paint a picture of the impact of the current uncertainties.

Nearly one in four of the sample said anxiety or mental distress due to the pandemic was affecting their ability to work.

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About one in five of those surveyed said caring for children or overseeing home schooling had reduced their ability to work, while one in 20 had taken a pay cut as a result of the pandemic.

The polling was commissioned by Professional Scientists Australia and Science & Technology Australia, two groups that represent scientists and technologists across Australia.

Misha Schubert, the chief executive of Science & Technology Australia, said the sector had faced even worse job security since the survey was carried out.

“Even at that early stage of the pandemic, almost one in 20 scientists surveyed said they had had their employment terminated, their contract not renewed, or had been stood down without pay,” she said.

“And since this survey was in the field, we’ve seen announcements of thousands more job losses at universities.”

Despite the challenges, about six in 10 scientists surveyed believed that Australians now placed greater value in science and the country’s professional scientific workforce as a result of the pandemic.

Schubert called for “stronger investment in the science and technology workforce” because Covid-19 had “highlighted how crucial our scientists are to the safety and security of all Australians”.

The president of Science & Technology Australia, Jeremy Brownlie, added that the country needed to protect its scientific workforce so it could help with Australia’s recovery from the current crisis.

“This report provides vital insight into the vulnerability of scientists and researchers as employees, as the economic impact of Covid-19 places significant strain on universities and research institutes, even as the demand for their skills had grown,” Brownlie said.

“Australia boasts incredible talent in scientific research, and we’ve drawn on this extensively amid Covid-19 – yet the job security and conditions of scientists and researchers are at risk.”

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The troubles facing the higher education sector were also laid bare at a hearing of the Senate select committee on Covid-19 on Tuesday afternoon.

While Universities Australia has previously warned that 21,000 jobs were at risk this year, education department officials said that “the announcements by universities to date suggest job losses in the order of 4,729”.

The head of the education department, Michele Bruniges, was asked whether she accepted there was a crisis in the university sector.

“There’s no doubt that across a number of sectors people are taking actions and thinking really hard about how they navigate this crisis – it is indeed a crisis,” she said.

Bruniges attributed the crisis to Covid-19, rather than government policy, and said many sectors were affected at the current time.

“We are monitoring that as close as we can to ensure that we have a good full picture of all the different measures and actions the universities are taking,” she said.

Apart from the job cuts, the Covid-19 committee also zeroed in on divisions in government ranks over the proposed changes to university funding and fees. The Nationals warned on Tuesday that they would fight for changes to draft legislation released only hours earlier.