By Francesca Di Meglio
As Harvard University announced it was going to eliminate 275 jobs earlier in the week, Harvard Business School (HBS School Profile) braced itself – as did the other schools on campus. Out of a staff of about 1,000, HBS laid off 16 staff members, which doesn’t seem like much on the surface. But others have left through attrition and still more will be leaving by way of early retirement plans and expiration of temporary work contracts for a total of about 13% fewer jobs.
“The overall effect of departures – whether through attrition, early retirement, end of contract, restructuring, or layoff – will be significant, and will be felt by every department on campus,” according to a June 23 letter sent to HBS staff and faculty from Dean of the Faculty Jay Light and Angela Crispi, associate dean for administration. “Cumulatively, at the start of the new academic year in September, HBS (including Publishing) will be 130 people smaller.”