UNC Charlotte freezes hiring for “non-essential” roles, cuts device stipend

UNC Charlotte has frozen non-essential hiring and cut a technology stipend for employees due to state and federal budget uncertainties.

The news comes after leaders at UNC-Chapel Hill announced last month the school would aim to cut expenses by $70 million, approximately 2% of the school’s operating budget. UNC Charlotte made its moves proactively, UNC Charlotte Deputy Chief Communications Officer Christy Jackson told The Charlotte Observer.

“While we have not yet experienced significant budgetary impacts, we remain concerned with the fiscal climate and are proactively evaluating opportunities to streamline operations and reduce expenses where appropriate,” Jackson said.

The total amount of money saved and the number of vacant roles that will need to be eliminated is still uncertain, Jackson said, because the state legislature has not yet finalized its budget for this fiscal year, which began July 1.

The North Carolina General Assembly returned to session Tuesday for the first time since July, as a budget stalemate between the House and Senate drags on. Budget talks hit turbulence this spring, with the two chambers largely disagreeing on tax cuts and raises to state employees.

Without a finalized budget, the state will continue to operate on the budget from the previous fiscal year, leaving teachers and other state employees without raises for now. The state budget also supplies the 17 UNC-system schools with tens of millions in funding based on enrollment. Until a new budget is passed, the UNC system will not receive the $46.3 million in recurring state appropriations the system’s Board of Governors requested this year.

Jackson said the “evolving federal funding landscape” also played a role in the decision to freeze hiring. The school saw 17 federal grants cut between January and May, totaling $14.3 million.

UNC Charlotte’s hiring freeze includes all “non-essential” roles, but the university didn’t specify what jobs those might be.

“During a hiring pause, there are still occasionally isolated needs where the university must rehire for the position immediately because the duties performed by that role cannot be filled by someone else, even on a temporary basis,” Jackson told The Observer.

The school also cut the “mobile communication device” allowance for about 600 employees, which ranged between $30 and $60 per month.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.

Rebecca Noel

The Charlotte Observer

Rebecca Noel reports on education for The Charlotte Observer. She’s a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from Rice University. She later received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. When she’s not reporting, she enjoys reading, running and frequenting coffee shops around Charlotte.