Series: COVID-19 State Of Employment Poll

This series tracks the employment status of orchestra stakeholders during COVID-19 related austerity measures. Polls are conducted weekly and the totals are aggregated in a public Google Sheet.

After Five Months, Orchestra Stakeholders Have Seen Big Changes In Employment Status

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Since the onset of coronavirus related shutdowns, orchestras have been laying off and reducing hours for administrators and musicians alike. We started measuring that impact in April 2020 using a weekly poll and after five months, the field has experienced various degrees of retraction. Stakeholder Groups Administrators. This group includes all staffers and managers as well as music directors and other non-union artistic staff. Salaried Musicians. These musicians earn a fixed weekly …

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State Of Employment Poll & Review August 31 – September 6

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The upcoming week is traditionally the last week of the summer season and most groups are either getting into 20/21 season activity. Consequently, this week will be the final week for the poll in its current format so please encourage your friends and colleagues to submit a response. Moving forward, I’ve been putting together an updated version of the poll that will measure who stakeholder employment status continues to evolve as …

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State Of Employment Poll & Review August 24 – 30

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Weekly Report Responses from Administrators indicate the shift from furlough to laid off status has continued to decline and the remaining respondents are beginning to level out into three primary groups: unemployed (40 percent), underemployed (37 percent), and employed (23 percent). It’s worth noting that this week saw the highest number of admin respondents, 73, since we began tracking employment status. Among Salaried musicians the small uptick in status at both …

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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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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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