CSIRO cuts 350 roles to ‘sharpen’ its strategy

On Tuesday (18 November), the national science agency, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), announced that it would axe 300 to 350 jobs, in line with “a broader strategy”.

Earlier this week (18 November), in a town hall meeting, CSIRO announced that it would make redundant 300 to 350 full-time equivalent roles (FTE) to “sharpen” its research focus. In a statement, the agency said it has faced “long-term financial sustainability challenges”, citing inadequate funding and the high running costs of its operation.

CSIRO chief executive Dr Doug Hilton said: “We must set up CSIRO for the decades ahead with a sharpened research focus that capitalises on our unique strengths, allow[ing] us to concentrate on the profound challenges we face as a nation and deliver solutions at scale.”

These recent cuts are “some of the worst” that the agency has “ever seen”, said Susan Tonks, section secretary at the CSIRO Staff Association. The association noted that a recent Senate estimates appearance revealed that a total of 818 jobs have already been dropped across the agency.

CSIRO scientists in Tasmania, particularly in ocean and climate research, are vulnerable to the community, economic and reputational impacts that these job cuts will have on the state, said Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, science spokesperson for the Greens.

The agency outlined aims to “invent and deploy technological solutions to tackle national problems”, which will be made possible with the investment of between $80 and $135 million per year over the next decade into “essential infrastructure and technology”, CSIRO said.

“We must set up CSIRO for the decades ahead with a sharpened research focus that capitalises on our unique strengths, allows us to concentrate on the profound challenges we face as a nation and deliver solutions at scale,” Hilton said.

Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science, Senator Tim Ayres, said: “The outcomes of its research portfolio review will see CSIRO focus its efforts on navigating these challenges: securing a clean, affordable energy transition, transforming Australia’s critical minerals to materials, climate change adaptation and resilience, developing advanced technology like AI and quantum, and increasing sovereign resilience and biosecurity.”

Ayres noted that the agency’s broader strategy will result in its exiting or scaling back on research in areas that are already covered by “other parts of the R&D system”. CSIRO stated that other research areas in its organisation “will need to be deprioritised”, in particular, where the agency “lacks the required scale to achieve significant impact or areas where others in the ecosystem are better placed to deliver”.

“These are difficult but necessary changes to safeguard our national science agency so we can continue solving the challenges that matter to Australia and Australians,” Hilton said.