Aalto University concludes negotiations in its Aalto ARTS Books unit

The change negotiations regarding the Aalto ARTS Books unit of Aalto University have been concluded on 12 December, 2022. There were four people within the scope of the negotiations.

After considering the continuation of the Aalto ARTS Books operation and the aspects brought up in the change negotiations, the employer has decided to downsize and reorganize the operations of the publishing unit. In the future the unit focuses with adapted resources on dissertation-level, artistic and visual theses that require special expertise and discontinues commercial publishing operation. However, the publishing contracts concluded will be maintained, and the commercial operation will continue until the end of 2023.

The employment relationships of all personnel will be maintained until the end of 2023 after which two positions will cease to exist. Aalto strives to find relocation options within other Aalto operations for the employees working in the positions that will terminate.

The downsizing of Aalto ARTS Books’ operations is linked to the broader efforts of Aalto University and the School of Arts, Design and Architecture to focus on their core tasks and to organise their activities in a way that best supports the core tasks. In line with the objectives of the current Finnish Government Programme, the School of Arts, Design and Architecture has significantly increased its student numbers in recent years, while at the same time the School’s as well as Aalto University’s relative funding has decreased. As the economic and the publishing environment changes, the operations of Aalto ARTS Books were reassessed.