Facing a $10 Million Shortfall, the Guggenheim Museum Has Furloughed Nearly 100 Staffers

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is the latest institution to
make deep cutbacks to offset losses suffered amid the COVID-19
pandemic.

In an email sent to staff today, the museum’s director, Richard
Armstrong, said the institution would furlough 92 staff members
from across the museum and implement pay cuts for employees making
more than $80,000. The museum estimates that it will see a
shortfall of $10 million as a result of its closure, which is
likely to extend until at least the beginning of July.

Armstrong said the measures were necessary to ensure “the
stability of the museum,” and described the near- and long-term
impact of the pandemic as “profound.” (The Peggy Guggenheim
Collection in Venice and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao closed in
early March; the New York museum closed on March 13.)

The museum’s finances, he said, will take a serious hit from
lost admission revenue, cancelled education classes, public
programs, and special events, as well as a decline in the endowment
as a result of the plummeting stock market. Furthermore, he said,
“we anticipate that when the museum reopens, admissions income will
remain substantially lower than previously.”

The furloughed staff will be paid through April 19, and will
receive benefits covered by the museum through July 31 or the date
of rehire, whichever comes first. (A spokesperson did not
immediately reply to a query about which departments would be
affected by the furlough.)

Salary cuts will be distributed on a graduated basis, with
larger cuts going to the top-paid employees. Armstrong said he is
among those taking a pay cut, although a spokesperson did not
immediately specify the size of the reduction.

The Guggenheim is one of many museums in New York and across the country
putting staff on furlough, making layoffs, and cutting expenses as
a result of losses suffered because of what many anticipate will be
more than four months of closures.

The indefinite shutdown of institutions across the country has
been particularly difficult for those, like the Guggenheim, that
make a considerable amount of revenue from ticket sales. Last
week, news broke that the New
Museum furloughed 41 full- and part-time members of its staff of
150, the majority of whom are paid hourly and work part-time
in front-of-house roles. They will be paid through April 15. The
Whitney Museum, meanwhile, laid off 76 employees, most of
whom had roles related to visitor services and therefore cannot
work remotely.

The Whitney has predicted a $7 million shortfall as a result of
its closure, while the Brooklyn Museum has anticipated losses will
reach $19 million and the Metropolitan Museum of Art suspects it
may lose a staggering $100
million.

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