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University of Michigan Human Resource and Administrative Jobs Saved…For the Moment

On Behalf of | Dec 5, 2013 | Employment Law |

Some University of Michigan Human Resource and Financial Services workers can breathe a sigh of relief. At least for now. The University has announced that it will put consolidation plans on a temporary hold after an awkward roll out of the cost saving plan. The irony surely isn’t lost by the affected HR professionals.

In an effort to consolidate its faculty and staff, the University of Michigan hired global management consulting firm Accenture to help implement the Administrative Services Transformation, a controversial plan that would cut 50 support staff positions and relocate 275 positions to a new “shared services center” in Ann Arbor that would handle the human resources and financial functions for all 19 University of Michigan campuses. The plan was scheduled to begin in April 2014. However, after a petition was released by U of M faculty, the plan was delayed and the University has decided to set up faculty committees to discuss the implementation of the Administrative Services Transformation.

The $11.7 million contract with Accenture estimates that the University’s costs will be reduced by up to $5 million a year through the shared services center. According to Provost Martha Pollack, the University has eliminated $265 million in recurring costs from its budget since 2004, and aims to shed another $120 million. The University of Michigan is not alone in this venture. Yale University, University of Texas, and University of California at Berkeley have also implemented similar programs.

Read more about the plan in this recent article published on MLive.