The Guggenheim Museum in New York will lay off 20 employees, around 7% of its staff, the institution announced today, February 28, citing post-pandemic financial constraints. The staff cuts are set to go into effect immediately and will impact all departments except for senior leadership and curators, the New York Times reported. It’s the third round of layoffs at the museum in five years.
“The extended post-pandemic period has presented a number of challenges felt across our field, in the United States and abroad, including rising costs, variable attendance levels, and changes in international tourism,” a spokesperson for the Guggenheim told Hyperallergic in a statement.
In recent years, the museum has raised ticket prices, reduced operating expenses, and implemented hiring freezes; however, the spokesperson continued, “our current financial picture requires us to make the difficult decision to reduce staffing and reorganize some teams to position the museum well for the future.”
The layoffs affected 14 union workers in Local 2110 United Auto Workers, the chapter’s president Olga Brudastova told Hyperallergic. She added that they were terminated from their positions “without notice” and “denied any union representation” at the meetings regarding the layoffs.
“The Union has already filed a grievance over this and has demanded information and bargaining with the Museum over the layoffs,” Brudastova said.
A Guggenheim spokesperson said that the layoffs did not impact workers in the museum’s other bargaining unit, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30.
Two previous rounds of layoffs at the Guggenheim museum in the last five years affected more than two dozen workers, including two deputy directors. Amid the reductions, the museum’s previous director Richard Armstrong, who stepped down from the role in 2023, took home total compensation packages that reached over $1 million, according to the museum’s tax filings.
The staff cuts at the Guggenheim follow recent mass layoffs at the Brooklyn Museum impacting 47 full- and part-time employees. On Tuesday, February 25, Brooklyn Museum workers and supporters protested the cuts with a rally outside the institution’s benefit dinner. This morning, City Council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor held an oversight hearing to assess the layoffs during which union representatives and city officials urged the museum to “exhaust all options” to avert staff reductions.
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