As theatres reopen their doors with reduced workforces, Salome Wagaine reflects on the woefully inadequate handling of staff layoffs during the pandemic.
“It feels galling that a lot of orgs/venues have been posting [for] the anniversary of venues closing – just how great they have been and all the wonderful work they have done, whilst making no mention of the redundancies they have made.”
Theatres have reopened their doors after a long, cold winter, and over a year since Covid-19’s impact first hit. But for many venues and organisations, they will be resuming public facing activity with a dramatically reduced workforce.
A BECTU study found that 39% of theatre workers were made redundant during the pandemic. It has been difficult to get an overall picture of where the job losses have fallen (during my research, I noticed that more than one venue had dropped the ‘Team’ page or list from its website at some point over the last year, instead opting for a Senior Leadership spotlight or generic contact form). Still, some of the largest performing arts employers have... Keep reading on Exeunt Magazine.
“It feels galling that a lot of orgs/venues have been posting [for] the anniversary of venues closing – just how great they have been and all the wonderful work they have done, whilst making no mention of the redundancies they have made.”
Theatres have reopened their doors after a long, cold winter, and over a year since Covid-19’s impact first hit. But for many venues and organisations, they will be resuming public facing activity with a dramatically reduced workforce.
A BECTU study found that 39% of theatre workers were made redundant during the pandemic. It has been difficult to get an overall picture of where the job losses have fallen (during my research, I noticed that more than one venue had dropped the ‘Team’ page or list from its website at some point over the last year, instead opting for a Senior Leadership spotlight or generic contact form). Still, some of the largest performing arts employers have... Keep reading on Exeunt Magazine.