The COVID pandemic has impacted the sports, leisure and entertainment sectors deeply. The latest to feel the impact is Arsenal, the London-based professional football club. Owing to the severe decline in revenues, Raul Sanllehi, head of football and Vinai Venkatesham, MD, Arsenal, have announced plans to slash about 55 jobs.
While it has been assured that Arsenal will continue to invest in the team, the layoff will affect those in the soccer, commercial and administrative departments.
With stadiums being out of bounds for football lovers, and commercial activities being brought to a standstill, the primary source of income for the club has taken a hit. Recovery from the impact of the pandemic still seems quite far away for Arsenal.
The Club had recently invested in expansion, having hired more staff. However, with the ongoing pandemic situation, the financial burden is getting too much to bear and Arsenal is looking at ways to sustain, without cutting down on the investment in the team. As a result, the Club has had to eliminate redundancies and also restructure the stadium loan for the season.
Arsenal had finished eighth in the Premier League, which was closed for the March to June period, due to the pandemic.
Realising how difficult the layoffs will be for the employees, the Club has assured utmost sensitivity in the layoff process.
