Verve Plots Layoffs Amidst WGA-AMPTP Strike
EXCLUSIVE: Verve has told the troops it will conduct a strategic series of employee layoffs as the WGA-AMPTP strike continues. The layoffs so far pertain mostly to support staff. Agency leaders and agents will also see reduced salaries and expenses as part of the cost-saving measures that are being taken to ensure Verve maintains its position as an independently owned talent agency.
Agency layoffs, which were widespread during the pandemic, have been expected as the percenteries brace for the impact of the strike. Verve becomes the first to acknowledge it.
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“The decision to implement employee layoffs was an incredibly difficult one, but it is necessary in the current climate for Verve to remain a strong and effective partner to our colleagues and our clients. As the largest independent agency, we do not have outside investors, and we do not have financing independent of our client’s revenue. When they fly, we fly and when they strike, we stand with them on picket lines and our pay stops along with theirs” said the Verve Leadership.
“We are saddened by the impact this has on our workforce but are working diligently to help those affected by the reduction to find new opportunities” added C.E.O. Bill Weinstein.
Verve was the first to break agency ranks in 2019, to sign the WGA’s Code of Conduct, as well as the first representation company to increase assistant pay in response to the #PayUpHollywood movement.
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