CSIRO management are no closer to revealing the extent of job cuts from the science agency's oceans and atmosphere division.
However initial fears that up to 200 positions might be cut from the Hobart-based research team will not be realised due to contractual obligations.
A meeting in the southern capital on Monday left scores of staff confused and angry, senior research scientist Richard Metear told reporters.
"On one hand they're saying we're going to totally ditch this area of science and then we're hearing in this meeting there's a real need for climate services and some of the public-good science we do that's relevant to Australia's future way of dealing with climate change," he said.
Workers waved "Save Our CSIRO" banners after hearing from agency director Alex Wonhas that more detail on the job cuts will be available in late April.
"Unfortunately the number is still so wishy washy ... we started with a huge number ... and we seem to be backtracking from that but it's not actually clear what it means," Dr Metear said.
The agency said that as part of its long-term planning it was working through a range of options and that job losses as mentioned at a Senate committee hearing in March were in response to a shift in federal government funding priorities.
"They didn't meet our criteria once we looked at the external contract obligations, changes in and impacts on other ocean and atmosphere programs, or across CSIRO business units, and so those options weren't progressed," spokesman Huw Morgan said.
It's a backflip, according to Dr Metear, who said he's seen documents showing that just a month ago there were plans to get rid of the CSIRO's entire climate effort.
"I feel like it's all down to finances ... basically our group in the short term was facing a reduction in funding and that's transpired into this dramatic reduction on staffing levels."
Dr Metear said his CSIRO colleagues are confident that funding can still be found for their important work and are disappointed that senior management haven't made a greater effort.
"It's really hard to have much faith in leadership when they can't even decide what the way forward is going to be.
"On one hand they announce a big cut and now they realise ... we live in a complicated world where CSIRO is locked into contracts and it's not easy to make these cuts," he said.
"They don't know what they want and that's why it's taking so long to get a firm decision."
Workers will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to endorse a lack of confidence motion in the agency's management.
