Metropolitan Opera Announces Layoffs, Salary Cuts, and Reduced Programming Amid Ongoing Financial Strain

The Metropolitan Opera has announced a new round of cost-cutting measures, including layoffs, executive pay reductions, and a scaled-back production schedule, as it continues to grapple with financial instability, according to reporting by the The New York Times.

The company said it will eliminate 22 administrative positions and temporarily reduce salaries for its highest-paid executives, with cuts ranging from 4 to 15 percent. General Manager Peter Gelb confirmed that the steps are intended to stabilize the organization amid uncertainty surrounding a proposed long-term financial agreement with Saudi Arabia.

That agreement, announced last year and valued at up to $200 million over eight years, would involve the Met presenting performances at the Royal Diriyah Opera House near Riyadh. While Gelb told The New York Times he remains confident the deal will move forward, delays have prompted the company to act conservatively midway through its fiscal year.

As part of the retrenchment, the Met will reduce its upcoming season to 17 productions and postpone a planned new staging of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina. The company will also continue exploring alternative revenue streams, including leasing the opera house to commercial productions during dark periods and evaluating the potential sale of naming rights to the building.

The Met is also considering selling two Marc Chagall murals displayed in the opera house’s Grand Tier, which have been valued at approximately $55 million, though any sale would require that the artworks remain on site.

The latest measures are expected to save roughly $15 million this fiscal year and an additional $25 million next year. The organization does not plan to draw further from its endowment, after having already withdrawn $120 million in recent years.