Associate Director of Dining Servics Tucker Rossiter said yesterday DDS would cut 11 union jobs, five non-union jobs and four management jobs in order to reduce costs and accommodate the new operating hours announced last week.
"It's not easy to tell employees that right now they are on the list that doesn't get jobs for the fall," he said. Rossiter previously told The Dartmouth that employee jobs would have to be cut since DDS's largest expenditure is labor.
Overall, these cuts represent a 25 percent reduction in management, a 15 percent reduction in non-union service and a 14 percent reduction in union service, Rossiter said.
Although DDS cut 20 jobs, only eight employees will actually be let go because some were planning on leaving DDS for other reasons, Rossiter said. In fact, DDS lost more non-union employees than it needed to cut and will be able to hire three employees for fall, he said.
Rossiter said he hoped some of the employees that will be let go will be able to find other jobs at the College or could eventually be re-hired by DDS as openings become available.
Student workers will also be affected by the loss in operating hours. Rossiter said since few students have been hired for jobs in Collis Cafe and Courtyard Cafe in recent years, DDS hopes to increase student employment in these areas. Some of the loss of student jobs could also be off-set by hiring more students in Cafe North at the medical school.
Rossiter said DDS employees were not surprised about the news of job reductions. He said he hopes at least that the number of lost jobs turned out to be less than employees had feared.
"Everyone that we let go is a good worker," Rossiter said. "They happen to be victims of some circumstances."
The workers who will not be re-hired for next year will remain in employment at the College until Sept. 30.
Joann Bassani '99 said she didn't immediately think of the lost jobs when she heard of the changes in operating hours. She said it must have been a difficult decision to make, but if labor is the largest cost for DDS, and "they decided they have to cut somewhere, that might be a place to start."
Overall, students seem to be pleased with the newly announced DDS hours.
Bassani said the changes seem to be in line with what students want, although she said her own dining habits would be largely unaffected by the new hours.
Noreen Nilan '99 said the changes are largely positive and DDS administrators clearly were listening to student desires when they instituted the new hours. She said she is especially glad to see the changes made to Home Plate and predicted that the new late-night hours of Topside convenience store will bring a positive reaction from students, especially after the limited service this summer.
Jay Liu '99 said he thinks the new late hours for Topside are appealing to students since the "generally live late into the evening."
