Key coronavirus tracker Johns Hopkins University expecting layoffs, furloughs

Johns Hopkins University, whose coronavirus tracking has been integral in reporting about the disease, announced Thursday that it expects to lay off and furlough employees due to the financial toll of the pandemic.

University President Ronald Daniels said in a letter that the institution is projecting to lose more than $100 million by June, with that amount ballooning to $375 million by June 2021. Daniels noted that before the onset of the pandemic, Johns Hopkins had projected an $80 million surplus.

Like most other universities and colleges around the country, Johns Hopkins has canceled in-person instruction for its undergraduate, graduate and professional students, which has led to loss of tuition money and other revenue.

“More than 1,200 employees have been rendered idle because they are unable to perform their duties. Many more are working off-site but at significantly reduced levels of productivity,” Daniels wrote.

“Furloughs and layoffs are regrettably expected to be necessary within some units of the university as an unavoidable consequence of the losses we are experiencing,” Daniels wrote. “Decisions regarding furloughs and layoffs will be made at the divisional and departmental level, including within university administration. Every effort will be made to provide transition assistance for affected employees during this extraordinarily difficult time.”

The university head also said that other cuts include “a one-year suspension of contributions to employees’ 403(b) retirement plans, a freeze on base salaries, restrictions on hiring, and a pause on most capital projects.”

Daniels and the school’s provost, Sunil Kumar, are also taking 20 percent pay cuts, while deans and other university officials reduce their pay by 10 percent.

University spokeswoman Jill Rosen told The Associated Press that the expected cuts will have “no effect on our pandemic efforts.”