NY Times: The Met Plans Major Layoffs

[marmar]

Met Museum Plans Major Layoffs

By RANDY KENNEDY
Published: March 12, 2009


The Metropolitan Museum of Art said Thursday that it would lay off more than a quarter of its merchandising staff, eliminating 74 jobs in addition to 53 already cut over the last year.

It also warned that the worsening economy would most likely force it to shrink its overall work force by 10 percent — as many as 250 full- and part-time jobs in all — before the summer, including some in curatorial and other pivotal departments.

These steps are partly a reflection of the problems that the museum’s merchandising arm, which a year ago operated 23 stores in New York and around the country, had been facing even before the downturn. But the new round of layoffs also signals how deeply the downturn is hitting even the most prestigious and popular art institutions like the Metropolitan.

The museum has imposed a hiring freeze, halted merit raises and curtailed staff travel and entertainment as well as the use of temporary employees. But it said that “prospective, significant, and long-term reductions” in annual operating income from its endowment had made layoffs imperative. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/arts/design/13metr.html?_r=1

[Mnemosyne]

1. First Sesame Street, now the Met!

Can't be good signs of our current times.