Brooklyn Museum Will Lay Off Employees and Scale Back Exhibitions

The Brooklyn Museum said Friday that it would soon cut more than 40 employees — between 10 and 13 percent of its work force — to alleviate the pressures of a financial deficit that is projected to reach $10 million by the end of its fiscal year in June.

Anne Pasternak, the museum’s director, said in a letter that will be sent to the staff members on Friday afternoon that the museum was “experiencing strong headwinds: inflation has dramatically impacted our operating budget, adding millions of dollars to everyday costs and outpacing funding.” She wrote that the pressures were “further compounded by slow post-pandemic attendance recovery across the field.”

In addition to the layoffs, officials said that senior leadership will take salary cuts of 10 to 20 percent; the annual number of exhibitions would be reduced to an average of nine from an average of 12; and weeknight events with low attendance or inconsistent funding would be canceled.

“More simply put, our expenses have grown more rapidly than our revenue,” the letter said. “This requires changes to our program, operations, and the size of our team, to help set the course for longer-term sustainability.”

The upcoming layoffs will occur across the museum’s departments, with both union and nonunion jobs set to be cut. They will be the institution’s first major cuts since 2020, when it laid off nearly 30 workers at the start of the pandemic.

Union leaders representing employees at the Brooklyn Museum said that they were concerned with the timing of these new cuts, which follow a series of expensive events and exhibitions celebrating the museum’s 200th anniversary, including a renovated restaurant, an exhibition devoted to gold and a rebranding campaign.