Month: August 2020

State Of Employment Poll & Review August 17 – 23

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  Weekly Report Responses from Administrators indicate the shift from furlough to laid off status has plateaued, which is a good indication that any furloughs set into motion at the onset of the shutdowns have either returned to work or converted to a laid off/terminated status. Beyond that, the overall ratios of employment status were mostly unchanged Salaried musicians maintained saw a small uptick in status at both ends of the employment …

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Those Soft Landings Are A Sharp Double Edged Sword In Disguise

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Joe Patti published a fascinating piece based on something from Vu Le about the notion of soft landings for executive leaders. While I read Le’s post when it came, but I didn’t consider writing anything about it until seeing it through Patti’s lens. In a nutshell, the “soft landing” concept here applies to the way conservatives (yes, in the political sense) approach caring for executive leaders. Le provides a pretty succinct …

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It’s Time To Get Political

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Now that the national election appears to be on in earnest, it’s time for arts advocacy groups and arts supporters to begin holding elected officials accountable for their position on the arts and arts funding. It’s no secret where the current administration stands on the arts: with its figurative shoe planted on its throat. Consequently, that choice should be self-evident. But there are plenty of other political races to watch, such …

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Thinking About Dynamic Consequences

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About a year ago, I wrote a post about the trend of stuffing an increasing amount of duties and responsibilities into single positions. Spoiler: expectations, job advancement, job satisfaction, wages and benefits, and responsibilities are combining to create a particularly caustic work environment that burns out too many good managers. Since then, COVID-19 staff cuts have only exacerbated this trend. Every piece of distressing news about job cuts means remaining workers …

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State Of Employment Poll & Review August 10 – 16

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After 18 weeks of tracking responses, the ratio of overall under-employed and unemployed statuses among orchestra stakeholder groups continues to increase. Weekly Report Responses from Administrators continue to show a migration from those indicating being furloughed to fully laid off. The percentage of respondents indicating they are still working and being paid at regular full or part time rate is only 17 percent. Those working at reduced hours and pay comprise 30 …

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