A propos this earlier post, another Exeter faculty member asks,

[W]hy, even if they need to make savings, are these overwhelmingly concentrated on humanities and social sciences? 85% of all staff placed at risk of redundancy (445 out of 523 FTE) are based in HASS (humanities and social sciences). That amounts to a 30% cut in philosophy, 25% in English, 50% in anthropology, etc. That seems disproportionate and looks to me more like ideology than financial necessity.

That certainly does suggest that management has its own agenda, that is not purely related to finances.