Over 900 employees laid off at USC since July

Interim President Kim notes the strain on the community as school tries to erase deficit.

- By Danie. MILLER

USC has issued layoff notices to more than 900 employees since July amid a fiscal crisis that has battered morale and strained resources.

The cuts, detailed in a Monday letter to the USC community by interim President Beong-Soo Kim, are central to an effort to erase a budget deficit that ballooned to more than $200 million. The layoffs have included employees across the university and its health system, including student academic advisors.

But Kim, who succeeded former President Carol Folt on July 1, wrote that as many 200 of those who received layoff notices could remain with the university in new positions. And he said the job cuts are nearly complete.

“The layoffs, of course, fall most heavily on those losing their jobs, but everyone else in our community also feels their impact — through the emotional strain of losing colleagues and friends, the resulting stresses on departments and units, and the challenge of doing more with fewer resources,” Kim wrote.

USC's deficit grew dramatically during the final year of Folt’s tenure, from $158 million to more than $200 million — an increase of more than 26%.