University of Sheffield gives £1,000 cost-of-living bonus to more than 8,000 staff

It is spending £8.4 million on the bonus, which it says comes in addition to other pay increases delivered earlier this year. Casual workers and graduate teaching assistants will get an equivalent increase in their hourly rate of pay for any work undertaken between October 2022 and July 2023, says the university.

The University of Sheffield said it had already agreed changes in August to its pay-grade boundaries, following talks with trade union representatives, which resulted in pay increases of up to 6.5 per cent for more than 5,000 employees, at a cost of £6.3m a year. It said the annual national pay award, which applies to all staff, this year included pay increases of at least three per cent for all staff and up to nine per cent for those on lower salaries.

What is University of Sheffield doing to help students with cost-of-living crisis?

Professor Koen Lamberts, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: “The steps we have taken for our students and staff are aimed at helping as quickly as possible, with a range of targeted support. For our staff, we have boosted salaries for all, but we have ensured that people on the lowest pay grades have received the largest increases. We know that the pressures that staff face are varied, so we are responding in a number of different ways – including by looking at on-campus costs.

“For students, we are very aware of how financial issues can affect their time at university. We hope that students who are struggling will contact the University as soon as possible and access the additional support available.”

The university has launched a cost of living hub for students and staff to help them access the support available, from financial help to cost-saving deals on campus, and has boosted its £3m Financial Support Fund which helps with unforeseen costs from accommodation to heating bills.

Other steps the university says it has taken include increasing funding for postgraduate students by 10 per cent, providing an additional £150 grant to help students participate in extracurricular activities, and increasing bursaries for students from less privileged backgrounds by a tenth. The University of Sheffield has nearly 28,000 students and employs around 8,200 staff.