Proposed job losses for venue operator Vbase

Forty-five jobs may be lost at Vbase under a proposal to cut permanent staff by 60 per cent.

The proposal follows the total loss of revenue for the Christchurch City Council-owned venues and events company because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Vbase believes there will be “few – if any – events until later this year” and that the events sector recovery period will take at least 12 to 18 months.

While staff have remained under the Government wage subsidy, Vbase now needs to cut numbers in response to the long-term outlook.

It expects border restrictions, and public gathering and social distancing requirements will have a prolonged impact on the events market.

The Vbase Board of Directors says it “is a distressing time for all, particularly for those people who are faced with leaving our company”.

“Many of these people have highly valued specialist skills and will be a loss to Vbase,” it says.

Vbase proposes to cut 45 full-time and part-time positions but retain all casual roles. However, casual staff are unlikely to have work until at least October.

Vbase will release a statement following a final decision.