South by Southwest laid off a third of its full-time staff Monday, a SXSW spokesperson said.
The company employs about 175 people. The layoffs come three days after the City of Austin the festival due to concerns over COVID-19.
鈥淒ue to the City of Austin鈥檚 unprecedented and unexpected cancellation of SXSW 2020 events in March, SXSW has been rigorously reviewing our operations, and we are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce,鈥� the spokesperson told KUT in a statement.
The annual event attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Austin each spring. Last year, the festival brought in about $356 million and saw more than 400,000 attendees from around the world.
鈥淭hose of us in the business of live events know the level of trust required to execute an event of SXSW鈥檚 scale, and we are deeply sad to let people go this soon,鈥� the spokesperson wrote. 鈥淲e are planning for the future, and this was a necessary, but heartbreaking step.鈥�
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
