A person walks past the closed Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End, in London, Britain on May 12, 2020. At least 5,000 theater workers in Britain, more than half of them in London, have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 shutdown, a trade union report has revealed. (Xinhua/Han Yan)
LONDON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 5,000 theater workers in Britain, more than half of them in London, have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 shutdown, a trade union report has revealed.
Since the British government announced an arts recovery package in early July, the number of redundancies and layoffs in the industry has jumped to 5,000, the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu) said Monday in a report.
The job losses include redundancies of permanent employees and lay-offs of casual workers and zero-hour contract staff, according to the union, which represents theater workers across the country.
"Over half (2,700 approx.) of the job losses are set to take place in London and the West End and the other losses are distributed around the country with all the major regional venues reporting redundancy proceedings," the report said.
It is estimated that the theater industry in Britain employs around 290,000 people, with around 70 percent freelancers, many of whom have fallen through the gaps of government income support schemes.
"In July we warned that a storm would turn into a tsunami without further assistance. Despite details of the arts recovery package being announced, we are still nowhere closer to the money being distributed," said Bectu head Philippa Childs.
"The tsunami we predicted is about to reach our shores as the timeline for action from the government has been too slow and there has been no flexibility for the industry and its access to the furlough scheme," she added, urging the government to fast-track its arts recovery package.
As of Wednesday morning, the country reported more than 307,000 COVID-19 cases.
