The USC Viterbi School of Engineering will lay off 65 people due to funding cutbacks and budget reductions, according to a California Worker Adjustment and Restraining Notification letter sent out Sept. 1.
The layoffs target almost the entirety of Viterbi’s IT department, according to a Viterbi staffer who requested anonymity in order to speak freely. Chief Technology Officer Rob Groome was the only specific person identified by the staffer as one of the few additional administrators who are guaranteed to remain employed.
“Technically everybody in IT’s been laid off,” the staffer said. “It’s a reorganization. That’s the only way they can do it, otherwise they have to go to each person and say: ‘Oh we’ve been looking at your annual reports, and your complaints…’ I’ve been around when they’ve had to fire people. It takes months. They don’t have months.”…