The University of Massachusetts at Amherst will indefinitely furlough 850 employees, including many dining hall workers and residence hall operations staff members.
After rolling back initial plans to bring many students back to campus this fall, the university faces a $168.6 million budget loss.
Furloughed staff members will retain their benefits, including health care, and will be eligible for unemployment.
The university predicts permanent layoffs will follow and is working to furlough as many of those affected staff members as possible. After taking personnel actions into account, the university will still face a $20.3 million deficit.
