The precariat is where the big uni job losses will come from but there is no headline number on how many people, are employed casually

Higher education statistics generally report full-time equivalent positions, which inevitably understates the actual number of individuals who work for universities.

So, James Guthrie and Tom Smith (Macquarie U) worked it out by digging into universities 2018 annual statements and examining a source which records the number of people, as in actual individuals. universities employ, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission report, which records the numbers of people, not EFTS.

They found that at end 2018 universities employed 80 000 casual staff, 39 per cent of their total workforce (CMM May 17).