28-02-2025
Cornell pauses hiring, citing 'financial uncertainty' among higher education
Hoping to get a job at Cornell University? You may have to wait a while.
The Ithaca-based university announced an immediate hiring pause Thursday citing financial uncertainty among 'all of American higher education.'
A new committee reporting to Provost Kavita Bala will evaluate staff positions to determine which are 'mission critical,' while faculty hiring will involve consultation with deans and the provost.
'To ensure that we continue to thrive in an even more complex future, we must commit, across every part of our institution, to a sustainable budget today,' University officials stated Thursday. 'To that end, we are initiating strategic budgetary adjustments that preserve shared governance and accountability among our central administrative units and all colleges, schools, and divisions.'
The University did not immediately reply to a request for further comment on the hiring pause.
All job positions at the university will be reviewed, including currently posted positions, fixed-term employment contract positions and term and temporary appointments.
The position control process positions the university to carefully review its job positions and advance only the essential positions as state and federal education funding is up in the air with Trump Administration plans to dismantle the U.S Department of Education.
Cornell and 11 other universities plan to file a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health for instituting funding restrictions, which would cost Cornell $80 million.
The university's endowment reached about $10.7 billion in late 2024 according to the Cornell Chronicle.
More than 2,100 teaching faculty join about 12,400 employees on campus each year, meaning the university employs nearly 14,500 people at its Ithaca Campus.
Cornell officials said hiring managers are working with local college and unit human resources representatives so that all decisions will be aligned with the needs of each of the university's colleges.
This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Cornell announces immediate hiring pause, will evaluate staff positions
