The Metropolitan Museum in New York announced on Wednesday that it is laying off 34 employees as part of a larger financial restructuring that saw the departure of a number of senior executives and the voluntary buyout of 57 employees nearing retirement this summer. The recent cuts, which account for around 1.5% of the total staff, do not include the curatorial or conservation departments but come largely from administrative teams such as finance and digital media, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The aim of the cutbacks is to reduce the museum’s deficit by $30m, the New York Times reports, a big increase on the $10m deficit it cited earlier this year. Its eight-year lease on the Whitney’s former home, now called the Met Breuer, costs the museum $17m per year. This autumn, it is due to start quietly fundraising for a new $600m wing for Modern and contemporary art designed by the British architect David Chipperfield.
As part of the cost cutting, the museum could also reduce the number of exhibitions it organises every year. It also hopes to increase revenue from ticketing and retail operations.