The New Museum and Whitney Museum Cut Dozens of Employees as Lockdowns Continue With No End in Sight

by admin

Apr 3, 2020

artnet

Just weeks after museums across the country started locking
down, major institutions like the Metropolitan Museum announced
staff cuts. Now, the latest news comes from the New Museum and the
Whitney Museum in New York, which are both furloughing and laying
off employees.

The New Museum has furloughed 41 full- and part-time
members of its staff of 150, the majority of whom are paid
hourly and work part-time in the front of house. They will be paid
through April 15.

The New Museum said in a statement that it was a “very
painful decision” and that “we hope to rehire them when conditions
permit.”

The museum is also laying off seven other employees whose
programs are either being discontinued or are significantly
reduced. All senior staff will take salary cuts on a sliding
scale from 10 to 20 percent, with the director, Lisa Phillips,
taking a voluntary 30 percent reduction of salary.

The New Museum said that the institution and its trustees “have
made it a priority to go above and beyond the terms of
the union contract to provide
all furloughed staffers extended health care at least
through June 30.”

One of the museum’s leading union advocates, Dana Kopel, a
publications coordinator, says many members of the New Museum Union
were among those affected. “The union is working to negotiate with
the museum regarding the impact of these furloughs and layoffs on
our members. At this time of incredible stress and uncertainty for
all, we stand in solidarity with our members who have been subject
to furloughs and layoffs.”

The Whitney Museum, meanwhile, laid off 76 employees,
most of whom had roles related to visitor services and therefore
cannot work remotely. The museum informed staff yesterday that the
layoffs were necessary because of a projected $7 million budget
shortfall. They will be paid through April 17 or 24, depending on
when they were hired.

Museum director Adam Weinberg and senior staff are also taking pay
cuts, effective immediately. “We have made these decisions
with great reluctance as we continue to assess this new and
unforeseen landscape and try to forecast the months to come,”
Weinberg said in a statement. “We are grateful to all our staff for
the tremendous diligence and dedication they have shown throughout
this time, and to the museum’s board of trustees for their
continuing guidance and their financial support of the Museum, its
programs, and its staff.” The museum says it will continue to
assess its finances and will make another announcement once it
finalizes its budget for the next fiscal year

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