Ticket sales and distribution giant Ticketmaster has recently furloughed a quarter of its employees all over its North America offices in the first major employment cut of the company due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Billboard first broke the news that the Live Nation-owned company is looking at additional cost-saving measures as its initial analysis yields little to no revenue for Ticketmaster for the rest of 2020. Employees said that they were caught by surprise by the company's furloughs because they were assured through calls that Ticketmaster will do everything to avoid laying off people.
The hundreds of furloughed employees were informed of the move in a conference call followed by a letter from the president, Jared Smith, on Tuesday (April 28). Smith said in the letter obtained by Variety, "For the very first time in the history of live entertainment, the industry is completely shut down," describing that a few months ago, the situation would've "seemed incomprehensible."
The Ticketmaster president continued by saying that they have stayed true with the company's core philosophy of "taking care of our own" and keeping everyone on the payroll in March and April, although the events have already "ground to a halt."
While the furloughs are set to take effect on Friday, May 1, Ticketmaster assured its employees that the forced leave is only temporary, and they will bring the full workforce back as soon as live performances started again. Affected employees will still enjoy their health benefits, with the company shouldering both employer and employee insurance premiums. Furloughed workers can also expect 1 to 2 weeks of payout from their earned time off. As of this writing, no further employee cuts are on the table.
This move was already gleaned as Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation, filed with the SEC last April 13. It stated that the company was looking toward a $500 million cost reduction plan for this year, including "reducing contractors, renegotiating rent, and paring back other discretionary spending."
Jared Smith also told the furloughed employees in his letter that the company is "entirely focused on getting back to business as soon as it is safe and sensible to do so." Smith added that they would keep on evaluating the situation and reinstate employees as soon as possible.
Even executives at the company were not spared by the global pandemic, which has already claimed more than 60,000 lives in the US alone and has left some 26 million workers homeless. Live Nation President/ CEO Michael Rapino has already relinquished his remaining salary for the year in a statement earlier this month.
Rapino also said in a memo addressed to their parent company that there are "50,000 events that have been canceled, postponed, or rescheduled globally on the TM Platform." He further added that 60% of the affected events had been authorized for ticket refunds, which amounts to more than $400 million returned to customers.
The concert industry has seen an unprecedented stoppage of events due to the coronavirus, from major events such as Coachella, SXSW, and Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), to concerts and tours, the future still looks bleak with the following months of no shows and no income.
