Redundancies to reduce WMC staff by 75 per cent
AREDUNDANCY exercise is expected to reduce staff numbers at the Wales Millennium Centre to little more than a quarter of its pre-pandemic level, the venue has confirmed.
The cultural landmark in Cardiff Bay has been shut since the lockdown was imposed in March and won’t reopen until next year.
Before Covid-19 hit the WMC employed 250 people, but now says that following redundancies that are still being finalised, the workforce is likely to reduce to 66.
Some of the employees losing their jobs have been at the centre since it opened in 2004.
One said: “Some roles have been deleted as part of a restructuring exercise. It begs the question as to why if posts that were relevant preCovid are being scrapped now when they’ll need the expertise when life returns to normal. It’s scandalous to use this current environment as the excuse for a restructure.
“There has been little or no meaningful contact between those affected and their immediate line managers, who were told by HR not to engage with staff facing redundancy. Apparently
they used the excuse that furlough prevented staff from working which meant managers shouldn’t discuss the situation. It’s amazing how furlough can be interpreted.”
The former employee said there had also been concern that the WMC’s senior management team – some on salaries in excess of £100,000 – had refused to take a pay cut during this period, claiming they were working 100% of the week which is why they were getting 100% of their salaries. This was in contrast to the CEOs of other arts venues, such as Fiona Allan at the Birmingham Hippodrome who took a pay cut.
Meanwhile, those on furlough were paid 80% of their salary.
The ex-employee said: “I’m also aware of other sectors mostly in the private sphere where leaders have taken a cut. It doesn’t appear to apply to large-scale institutions propped up by the public purse, which doesn’t exactly set the right standard.”
According to the WMC’s annual accounts for 2019, the highest-paid employee had a salary of between £160k and £170k. A further employee was paid between £110k and £120k and three more were paid more than £60k.
WMC managing director Mat Milsom said: “It was with a very heavy heart that we announced a consultation process at WMC in June.
“However, it was inevitable given the scale of our losses; we lost 85% of our income when we closed our doors in March 2020 and we won’t have confirmation of any emergency funding from Arts Council of Wales until October, when the furlough scheme ends.
“In the meantime, we don’t know when we can reopen nor to how many people.
“It is extremely unlikely we will operate at the same scale as before for several years, and we can only reopen with additional funding and sufficient easing of Welsh Government restrictions, both of which are several months away.
“Given the inherent uncertainty over future capacity and operations, we have therefore made the difficult decision to restructure the organisation accordingly, including making some roles redundant immediately.”
Mr Milsom said the WMC had consulted with staff and unions “using a very thorough process” over 45 days, and the decisions made by the management team had been fully supported by the trustees, who are ultimately responsible for preserving the long-term financial sustainability of the centre.
He said: “Everyone at WMC sincerely regrets that this process has had to happen, but it has been done in good faith and always with the aim of protecting the organisation’s long-term future.”