The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), the umbrella institution overseeing the de Young and Legion of Honor museums in the city, laid off 12 workers, citing a 20% drop in museum visitors since the pandemic and “increased operational costs.”
The layoffs affected approximately 3.5% of FAMSF’s total workforce, which comprises roles funded by the city and others supported by a private nonprofit that oversees the museums. Service Employees International Union 1021 (SEIU 1021), the unit representing some FAMSF positions, informed Hyperallergic that four union positions were affected: a public programs coordinator, a museum technician, a data services associate, and a publicist.
“The union stewards were deeply saddened to learn about these layoffs impacting our members and have been working to ensure our colleagues are compensated correctly for their years of service,” a spokesperson for SEIU 1021 said in a statement.
The union said imminent layoffs were not mentioned during recent negotiation meetings, and said pay cuts to leadership positions should be considered in the future instead of layoffs.
A spokesperson for the FAMSF told Hyperallergic that the layoffs did not impact city-funded positions, which include security and maintenance staff, but declined to state which jobs were terminated. The cuts were made “across the organization,” CEO and Director Thomas Campbell said in the statement.
The news comes months after FAMSF proposed a controversial 23% reduction of city-funded positions to meet a slimmed-down operating budget imposed by former Mayor London Breed. In response to a projected $876 million deficit, Breed had asked all city agencies to cut expenses by 15%. As a public institution, FAMSF typically receives 20% to 25% of its funding from the city. For FAMSF, Breed’s suggested cut would have meant a $3.3 million reduction in public funds, which the SEIU 1021 union representing some FAMSF jobs, warned would be “detrimental” to the de Young and Legion of Honor.
However, these budget recommendations were not the reason for FAMSF’s recent cuts, a spokesperson from the organization clarified to Hyperallergic, adding that city appropriations are not being reduced in Fiscal Year 2026.
“San Francisco has experienced a prolonged period of softening tourism, which has led to reduced attendance at our museums,” Campbell said. “We faced a financial gap that could not be closed without this action.”
Daniel Lurie took office in January as the city’s new mayor, replacing Breed, and proposed slight increases to the museums’ funding in his budget signed into law yesterday, July 24. FAMSF’s city appropriations increased by 3% this year, the FAMSF spokesperson said, but will be directed mostly toward utility and insurance costs.
SEIU 1021 opposed FAMSF’s initial plan to cut staff as required by the city, which would have included the elimination of 19 city-funded security guards and reduced operating hours. The cuts would have also predominantly affected workers who are people of color, the institution said.
The Legion of Honor and de Young museums are far from the only institutions to report a post-pandemic squeeze. In May, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art laid off 29 workers, accounting for 7.5% of the institution’s total employees, citing a $5 million deficit worsened by a post-pandemic tourist slump. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum laid off 20 staff members abruptly in April, citing similar pandemic-related constraints. Also in New York, the Brooklyn Museum narrowly avoided further staff cuts thanks to a $2.5 million windfall from the city last month.