Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
On the afternoon of Tuesday August 4, 2020 employees at AVIXA, the Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association, were formally told that many of them were being let go.
If rumours are to be believed, the layoffs are across the board. One source told us that up to 40% of the workforce may have been fired, including some people who have been with the association for 15-20 years.
This is incredibly sad for everyone involved and our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs.
In a letter to members, the industry association says that it had completed a strategic realignment, balancing the needs of members, the needs of its business and the needs of the team.
We quote “Unfortunately, this focus has resulted in a number of job positions being eliminated; and while we respect the privacy of our employees and the sensitivity of this matter, we also felt it important to share with our member community the impact of these changes. The greatest honour we can pay to their legacy is to carry their good work forward.”
It continues “While difficult to act on, these changes must position AVIXA to support our industry in 2021 and beyond. If we’ve learned any lessons in 2020, one of them is that we cannot clearly anticipate all futures. We don’t know when trade shows will come back. And we don’t know what they will look like when they do; but we do know that this industry will continue to grow in importance and vitality.”
Last week Heidi Voorhees AVIXA’s COO was also let go. It was clear then that layoffs were going to happen.
These are extremely tough times for the event industry and this just piles on the woe for those in the AV industry involved in that.
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