Webinar: Invest now or pay later? The future of professional services in higher education

Date:: 12 November 2026
Time:: 12pm to 1pm
Location:: Online
Organiser(s):: HEPI
Admission:: Open-to-all

HEPI is hosting a webinar on Thursday 12 November to explore the findings of The invisible majority (HEPI Report 205), a study of the professional and support staff who make up 56 per cent of the UK higher education workforce and 48 per cent of its pay bill.

These staff run student services, maintain buildings, manage research grants and operate digital systems. Yet most institutions respond to financial pressure through restructuring, hiring freezes and outsourcing, cutting the very capability they need to recover.

Drawing on surveys of 450 respondents, the report finds that three-quarters face sustained high work intensity and two-thirds say change has affected them negatively, rising to 79 per cent of those earning below £40,000. Jobs have expanded without redesign, and change is too often done to staff rather than with them.

This webinar will unpack the report’s evidence and recommendations, from reforming job evaluation to fixing the sector’s workforce data and discuss how universities can protect the capability they depend on while budgets are tight. It will offer clear evidence and practical insight into the choice between investing now and paying later.

Speakers

Professor Sir Steve West CBE
Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive Officer, UWE Bristol
Margaret Ayers
Chief People Officer, University of the Arts London, and Chair, Universities Human Resources (UHR)
Cheryl Watson
VP Education, UK, TechnologyOne
Amanda Owen-Meehan
Consulting Director, AHEP Consulting
Nick Hillman OBE (Chair)
Chief Executive, HEPI