THE ABBEY Theatre is set to make a quarter of its staff redundant as part of a major restructuring taking place at the national theatre.
It is currently in a statutory collective redundancy consultation with staff and is seeking 25 to 30 redundancies; while 123 people work at the theatre, they are the equivalent of 111 full-time posts. The redundancies would be voluntary, but management at the theatre has not ruled out compulsory redundancy.
The Abbey is not in deficit or debt, director Fiach MacConghail stressed yesterday, but following its grant reduction this year, it foresees difficulties next year if it does not restructure now.
Following the national theatre’s bailout and reorganisation after 2004, its Arts Council grant rose from €7.2 million in 2006 to €10 million in 2008, but dropped to €8.35 million this year. The theatre does not know what its funding will be over the next few years.
Over the period of increases, its productions got bigger, it hired more staff, invested in public affairs and marketing, and set up a fundraising department. Now the staff is looking at a range of proposals, which include a pay freeze (its wages have traditionally been linked to public service wages), merging of jobs and departments, and increased flexibility.
One proposal is to close the theatre’s workshop and outsource set- building. While the Abbey has invested a lot in recent years in training, technology and equipment for its workshop, the new economic climate means the disparity in cost between in-house set-building and outsourcing is increasing, director of finance Declan Cantwell said.
Theatre staff are making their own suggestions for efficiency.