Climate scientists at the CSIRO who are earmarked for redundancy will learn their fate this week.

Staff in the organisation’s oceans and atmosphere business unit began being told of their “potential” redundancies on Tuesday, and the process was expected to continue until Thursday. Last week a similar process occurred for scientists in the land and water business unit.



After public outcry followed CSIRO management initially identifying nearly 100 climate scientists for redundancy in February this year, that number dropped quickly to 70 and was finally reduced to about 40.

The scientists are given two weeks to explain why their position should be saved, followed by a two-month process during which management tries to find them another position in the organisation. After that, the scientists will have up to nine weeks to tie up loose ends before they leave.



In the meetings, the scientists are told that their position has been “impacted”. Reasons given centre on a lack of “customer support” for the work they do; a lack of “external earnings” associated with their work; and the fact that CSIRO needs to reduce some capabilities to invest in other areas.



“A lot of people are upset,” a senior climate scientist at CSIRO told Guardian Australia. He said all the internal avenues for fighting the cuts had been exhausted. Only a political decision could stop it now, he said. “Unless there is a change in government and they were ordered to stop the cut.”