The University of Oregon disregarded seniority when sending layoff notices to two UO librarians, according to a third-party arbitrator and attorney.
Librarians were laid off during summer 2025, when 117 positions were eliminated following projections of a $25-30 million projected yearly budget deficit in the university’s education and general fund. These layoffs included the elimination of eight full-time positions at UO libraries to help reduce the libraries’ budget by around $806,000, or 4%.
Layoff notices were sent to the two employees, one senior librarian and one associate librarian, in September 2025, and the layoffs were to take effect one calendar year later. According to United Academics, both librarians had worked at UO for over a decade…