Staff Cuts at Museums Coast to Coast Continue as MoMA PS1 and the Broad Plan to Lay Off or Furlough More Than 170 Total Employees

MoMA PS1 in New York and the Broad Museum in Los Angeles are the
latest institutions in the US to make staff cuts as a result of the COVID-19
pandemic.

In an April 13 email to staff, MoMA PS1 director Kate Fowle said
the current situation is “the most serious financial crisis MoMA
PS1 has ever faced, and we expect the severe impact of this
pandemic will be felt not only in the months ahead but for years to
come.”

In her email, Fowle said that 80 percent of the museum’s
$600,000 monthly expenditures are dedicated to payroll and
benefits for staff, adding that “it’s simply not possible to
make the numbers work under these circumstances.”

With the financial support of the board, the museum has
committed to paying everyone’s full salary and benefits through May
1. Fowle noted that furloughed staff will be eligible to apply for
unemployment benefits after April 24, and that the museum will
continue to cover full health benefits for those who currently
receive coverage through July 31.

After May 1, the museum will furlough “a majority of our
employees across all departments and implement significant salary
rollbacks of five to 40 percent for remaining staff with salaries
over $70,000.”

Forty-seven workers—who together constitute more than 70 percent
of the museum’s staff—will be furloughed.

“We expect that these furloughs will last until the end of July,
and at that point we will reassess,” Fowle told staff in her
email.

Meanwhile, the Broad, a private museum founded by billionaire
art collector Eli Broad, will lay off one full-time and 129
part-time employees, including retail workers and visitor services
staff, starting April 24.

Museum director Joanne Heyler and deputy director Stacy
Lieberman addressed staff in an email yesterday, saying that “the
realities of COVID-19 are becoming clearer.”

The museum is hoping for a July reopening, but that will
ultimately depend on the guidance of public health officials.

“To provide a measure of support, we will include separation pay
according to length of service, with the largest amounts provided
to those who have worked the longest at the Broad. Combined with
regular compensation since the museum closure on March 13,
separating employees will have been provided a combined total of
six to 10 weeks of pay,” according to a statement from the museum
issued to Artnet News.

In response to questions about whether the museum had applied
for the Paycheck Protection Program, which would provide government
funding for businesses to pay their employees, a museum
representative said: “Layoffs are taking place because we are
preparing for reduced and reorganized public-facing operations in
the future due to decreases in attendance. A loan would not have
changed that.”

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Broad has kept its staff, both full-time and part-time, on
regular compensation for over five weeks after it closed to
the public on March 13 to join efforts to slow the spread of the
virus,” the spokesperson added.

The post Staff Cuts at Museums Coast to Coast Continue as
MoMA PS1 and the Broad Plan to Lay Off or Furlough More Than 170
Total Employees appeared first on artnet News.