The V&A (Victorian and Albert Museum) in London is to make 10% of its staff redundant due to the “ongoing impact of Covid-19”.
The cuts will be made to employees working in retail and the visitor experience. Job losses are likely to follow in other departments. The move is part of a proposal to reduce £10m in annual costs to combat what is deemed as “the most significant financial challenge” in the history of the museum.
In a statement, V&A said: “[This is] a very difficult decision made a s a result of the ongoing impact of Covid-19” which “would have been unimaginable at the start of the year.”
The visitor count at the museum is currently down by 85%. V&A expects the financial recovery of 2020 to take a number of years.
The job losses are being attributed to the five-month period the museum was forced to be closed for, as well as decreased visitor capacity and demand, and the collapse of the tourism industry in general.
The museum has warned that it is “facing the very real prospect that we might never return to the level of visitation and associated income we were able to generate pre-Covid-19.”
