USC Lays Off 58 Workers in Non-Teaching Positions

The University of Southern California has laid off 58 employees, mainly maintenance workers and groundskeepers, and plans to eliminate another 31 vacant non-teaching positions in an attempt to reduce spending at the Los Angeles campus.

By cutting the 89 jobs, the university expects to save about $3.4 million annually, according to officials. The 58 layoffs represent about 11% of the 540-person work force in the USC department of facilities planning, administrators said in announcing the reductions.

Other rounds of layoffs are expected in coming months at USC, which is struggling to cover a $15-million deficit. Employees who are laid off will be given priority for new campus positions, but such openings are rare because of an administrative hiring freeze that began in November, according to a recent story in the campus newspaper.