Layoffs and Cuts at a Sampling of Nonprofit Organizations

June 4, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes

American Red Cross in Greater New York

The American Red Cross’s New York chapter plans to lay off 25 percent of its 186 staff members. The organization has suspended matching contributions to employee retirement plans, discontinued bonuses, and frozen salaries of all workers.

CARE (Atlanta)

The international-aid group has laid off 54 employees, including 43 people who worked in the group’s Atlanta headquarters. The charity has also cut executive salaries by 10 percent, and reduced the salaries of other staff members by 4 percent. (This updates an item that appeared in the May 7 issue.)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The orchestra’s musicians have agreed to a 2.5-percent reduction in pay through September 2011, when their current contract expires, and unfilled musician posts will remain vacant.

Cleveland Museum of Art

The museum is cutting its budget for the 2010 fiscal year by 6 percent. Its director and all staff members who make more than $75,000 will take salary cuts, on a sliding scale from 2.5 to 15 percent.

Florida Orchestra (Tampa Bay)

The orchestra has laid off three staff members, and its president’s salary will be reduced by 10 percent, while employees who make at least $50,000 will see salary cuts on a sliding scale from 5 to 7.5 percent. Workers making less than that amount will have their pay frozen.

Greater Boston Guild for the Blind (West Roxbury, Mass.)

The adult day health-care center, which is operated by the Jewish Guild for the Blind of New York, plans to close in June.

Phoenix Symphony

The symphony’s musicians, music director, and administrative workers have agreed to a 17-percent pay cut over the next three years.

Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles)

The museum will lay off 17 employees and will cut senior staff members’ salaries by 5 percent. Other employees’ hours and salaries will be reduced and benefits for all employees are being cut. The museum is also canceling four planned exhibitions.

San Francisco Opera

The opera has cut the salaries of its senior executives by 5 percent and will leave vacant four open posts. It will also impose mandatory one-week furloughs in January.

WNET (New York)

The public television station and its Long Island, N.Y., affiliate WLIW, will lay off a total of approximately 50 employees between them.

— Compiled by Maria Di Mento

See additional samplings of layoffs and cuts at nonprofit groups: