Universities are filled with this kind of pointlessness. The result is a massive amount of friction between those on the "edge" of the university doing useful work in research, teaching, building things, and the people in the "core" who routinely fire and re-hire whole departments and replace perfectly functional buildings in order to justify their paycheck.
It's not that the beaucracy running a University isn't needed (it definitely is), but it has got out of control and is consuming valuable resources better used elsewhere.
This is the same in industry: At a company that was supposed to be financially struggling, the CEO did:
1) Lay off software engineers are (the best ones, he had no clue).
2) Increase the head count in the HR department.
3) The increased head count in the HR department proceeded to move from one billing or HR platform to the next because they needed activity.
4) Hire "diverse" new (cheap) software engineers with no clue.
I think professional unions with all their flaws are needed not primarily to bargain for higher incomes, but to stop this social welfare program for the bureaucracy.
It's not that the beaucracy running a University isn't needed (it definitely is), but it has got out of control and is consuming valuable resources better used elsewhere.