Workload
February 5, 2026
A Tale
I hope you don’t mind my opening with a reference to a very old story. Many years ago, in a collection of tales by the late Idries Shah, I read about the Caliph Haroun al-Rashid, who ruled around the 8th century in what is now the Middle East and North Africa. So some of the tales go, Haroun al-Rashid would go in disguise among the people to learn what their lives were really like and how they thought and felt. He seemed, at least at an intuitive level, to appreciate that the information he needed to govern wisely didn’t always reach his ears. At least as the collected tales about him go, his disguised travels among the people helped him rule justly and sagely.
Workload
One of the critical issues in recent months, and also raised by some of you at the January 27, 2026, SFU Town Hall are growing concerns about workload. In just APSA alone and by the end of February 2026, approximately 140 APSA positions will have been position-eliminated, or vacated by voluntary retirements. In broad terms, a smaller workforce is being pressed to do more: the work that was often previously done by those who lost or vacated their jobs. In the case of positions vacated through the volunteer retirement program, our understanding is that only one in three or four of those positions will be filled, even though some departments and units will lose disproportionately more positions than others.
What’s difficult for too many of you is that while you’re doing more, the University is saying do less or just say no to extra work; similar remarks were also made at the recent Town Hall. As one frustrated member said to me recently, “What do they want me to do [expletive redacted] less of? Help fewer students?”
At this stage, it’s unclear whether the University sufficiently appreciates the reality on the ground for many of you. The admonitions to do less or say no to more work are all well and good, but it’s important that there’s substance to the guidance.
One dynamic confounding the suggestion to just do less is that you may feel very reluctant to put up your hand and say, “Sorry, can’t take on any more work,” or “Hey, I’m burned out”. There can be many reasons for this. You may not want to seem insubordinate or as not pulling your weight. As a few members have even said to me, “If we say no to more work, that probably puts a target on our backs for the next round of cuts.”
Another dynamic can be our own personal working style (aside: I’m including myself here). In the December 2025 issue of Plans & Trusts, I read the following (the underlining is mine): “The WHO [World Health Organization] defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic, poorly managed workplace stress. Top performers and those with caregiver traits such as self-deprivation, compassion and a strong sense of personal responsibility are at a high risk of burnout.”
In a workplace complicated by the stresses of job loss, diminishing resources and tacit pressure to make up for both, the very traits that may make us top performers or the very traits that make us a caregiver could put us at even higher risk for burnout, illness and a sense of disengagement from the workplace.
What You Can Do; What APSA Is Doing
Bringing this back to my tale about Haroun al-Rashid, it’s important that SFU’s leadership continues to receive as much feedback about workload issues as possible: whether from APSA leaders, more junior members of the University or from APSA representatives. As in my tale, wise decisions need good information. While SFU is apparently implementing a broader workforce review, it’s unclear that this review has reached the operational level; and it’s also unclear how or when the results of the review will be implemented.
Now, I don’t want to leave you with a sense that you’re alone in this. In the coming weeks and months, we plan to provide more guidance on relevant parts of the AD 10 policies that can assist you with workload issues. We are also working on some professional development seminars around handling workload issues in times of relative scarcity. Stay tuned.
If you have a workload issue and would like to meet with me or my team in complete confidence, please do reach out. We’re here for you.