Thirty-two jobs are going at the UEA in a restructuring exercise – but bosses hope to offset the losses via redeployment and a voluntary severance scheme.

The UEA said about 500 of its 3900 employees would be affected by its plans to integrate a number of key academic support services across the university.

An insider, who did not wish to be named, said: 'Some people I know have been there over 20 years and no longer have a job.'

A UEA spokesman said: 'The decision has been taken in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these services, and to make key savings at a time when higher education funding is subject to significant reductions in a number of areas.

'With such developments we aim to continue to deliver a student experience which is acknowledged as excellent and which has been reflected in our receiving an above-average rise in applications for the past four years.

'The new structures would see a loss in the region of 32 full-time equivalent posts and the university is seeking to mitigate compulsory redundancy via redeployment and the announcement of a voluntary severance scheme.'