The moves are part of the company’s previously announced cost-cutting measures, which include company chief Michael Rapino forgoing his salary.
Approximately 20 percent of Live Nation Entertainment employees have been furloughed as part of the company's cost-cutting measures amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, company sources told The Hollywood Reporter on Friday.
Those furloughs began in late April and affected hundreds of Ticketmaster employees. But several more Live Nation divisions enacted furloughs this week, which a company spokesperson confirmed are part of its previously announced cost-cutting plan. “The furloughs were super surprising,” an impacted employee told THR.
After the furloughs, about 80 percent of Live Nation's full-time staffers will remain on the company’s payroll.
In mid-April, the company announced that company CEO Michael Rapino would forgo his $3 million base salary and that salaries for top executives would be trimmed by up to 50 percent. "Additional cost-reduction efforts include hiring freezes, reduction in the use of contractors, rent renegotiations, furloughs and reduction or elimination of other discretionary spending, including, among other things, travel and entertainment, repairs and maintenance, and marketing," the company said at the time.
While furloughs have impacted the entire company, specific divisions have enacted them at different times. According to a company source, the employees furloughed this week have included staffers who worked on the media and sponsorships team as well as people who work on the concerts and venues teams.
“Those affected by the furloughs are confused,” the Live Nation staffer said. “We don’t know who else has been affected.”
Furloughed employees will continue receiving medical benefits but will not receive a salary. The percentage of staffers furloughed has varied by division but generally has been between 15 and 25 percent of employees.
