Hello Volunteers, Though this update is more centered around employment, I’m continuing to post these messages from Stephan, to keep us all in the loop – Holly

Hello Everyone,

Again, I apologize for yet another late Friday evening e-mail. This has been another brutal week but I want to assure you we are working as hard as we can to secure clarity for our team. Please read this entire e-mail. 

First, please take care of yourself. This is real, this is hard and yes – this too will pass. We need to take care of one another. The reality is that until there is a vaccine we will be living in the age of COVID-19.

The start of the week was bad. We realized that a July 1 reopening is too optimistic. Mid-September is becoming a real possibility for a full reopening. The costs of having a closed museum are mounting rapidly. There is real pressure to dramatically reduce our payroll, and we are working around the clock to try and determine the best possible scenario for the AGO, and for our team. This has meant modeling multiple scenarios.

In the meantime, all full-time employees continue to be paid.

Looking forward, we have been actively pursuing the new federal wage subsidy program and are hopeful that the AGO may be able to benefit from the program. We have also opened discussions with some of our key donors around the possibility of them coming to the table. And, we recognize that part of the new approach would likely entail a reduced salary for reduced hours for all employees.

Leadership Team is bringing all of our creativity to the table as we look to develop the best solution possible, under the circumstances. While I can’t commit to specifics at this time, please believe me that we are hard at work on saving jobs and will communicate more as soon as more details are known.

One thing is clear – it will take all of us working together to pull through this.

It will be clear by Wednesday.

Hold tight,

Stephan