The
CSIRO’s Manufacturing Flagship will be hit particularly when 75 jobs are cut at
the organisation.
Fairfax reports that the jobs will be shed over the next three to four months,
following a funding decrease of $115 million over four years announced in the
May federal budget.
45 full-time equivalent jobs will be cut at the Manufacturing Flagship.
The
CSIRO Staff Association’s secretary Sam Popovski said management had been
trying to identify funding from industry, “particularly in the manufacturing
area” to help avoid the cuts, but this hadn’t been successful.
“Most Australians
would expect that research that supports innovation and jobs in manufacturing,
agriculture and the digital economy should be increased, not cut,” he told Fairfax.
“So, I think that in
addition to affected staff and their CSIRO colleagues, the wider community is
entitled to feel dismayed at these cuts to Australia’s future.”
The three National Research Flagships – a
program launched in 2003 and dedicated to “large scale and mission directed science” –
affected were in manufacturing, digital
productivity (25 jobs) and agriculture (six jobs).
The Guardian notes that the manufacturing flagship had contributed innovations in
areas including ceramic body armour for the country’s soldiers.