Arsenal football club has decided to let go of over 50 staff due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic which has affected the revenue stream of the club.
Sources close to the club have revealed that some football department, administrative and scouting department areas are affected by the layoff.
On Wednesday morning Football Director Ranul Sanllehl and Manger Director Vinai Venkatesham on the club’s website released an official statement.
“It is now clear that we will be facing more significant and longer-lasting reductions in our revenue than we all hoped,” it read. “Current indications are that we will not have fans back at Emirates Stadium for the start of next season and fans will only be able to return in limited numbers after that. The global economic projections are also very negative.”
“This will impact the disposable income of our fans; the money corporate clients have to spend on hospitality and sponsorship, and the ability for broadcasters to invest in TV rights.”
“We all hope there will be no ‘second wave’, but we also need to accept that it is one of the many uncertainties ahead of us and plan accordingly.
“Over recent years we have consistently invested in additional staff to take the club forward, but with the expected reduction of income in mind, it is now clear that we must reduce our costs further to ensure we are operating in a sustainable and responsible way, and to enable us to continue to invest in the team.”
“Our aim has been to protect the jobs and base salaries of our people for as long as we possibly can. Unfortunately, we have now come to the point where we are proposing 55 redundancies.
“We do not make these proposals lightly and have looked at every aspect of the club and our expenditure before reaching this point. We are now entering the required 30-day consultation period on these proposals.”
Arsenal is known for its self-sustaining business model, which is highly dependent on matchday revenue, and transfer gains but the Covid-19 pandemic which has restricted the presences of fans at the stadium has severely hampered its income.
However, the London club was one of the first Premier League clubs to agree on a pay cut with its player 12.5% for 1-year but was reduced to 7.5% after the club qualified for Europa League by winning the FA Cup.
While some section of the club feels its a biased decision as the club is still splashing on transfer dealings.
