Meow Wolf lays off 159, including 29 in Santa Fe

After an internal email announcing forthcoming layoffs from multi-state arts juggernaut Meow Wolf leaked to the press on Monday, April 15, the company began notifying those affected on Wednesday.

When the dust settled, 159 employees across four states were without a job, including 14 from Santa Fe’s House of Eternal Return exhibit; 15 corporate positions in Santa Fe; 50 at Denver’s Convergence Station; 61 at Las Vegas’ Omega Mart and two at Grapevine, Texas’ The Real Unreal, according to an email from Meow Wolf Vice President of Public Relations and Communications Kati Murphy. Additionally, for now, the future of 55 Omega Mart employees remains uncertain as bargaining between the company and the Meow Wolf Workers Collective’s Las Vegas unit is ongoing, meaning union employees have certain protections in the event of layoffs that must be sorted.

“We just don’t have a contract, but [the Meow Wolf Workers Collective] is recognized in Las Vegas,” MWWC secretary/treasurer Jerome Morrison tells SFR. “The problem is that Meow Wolf is so young, they’re having trouble recognizing the power of the union and the laws behind it. They don’t see us as equal to management—they’re stepping on people’s rights and expect us to have this calm decorum about it, but when somebody is stealing a refrigerator from your house, are you supposed to remain calm?”

The layoffs are part of cuts across the board, These include a 10% salary reduction for CEO Jose Tolosa and his “direct reports” employees, though Tolosa’s annual salary has not been disclosed. Murphy’s email says the company also is dropping certain software contracts; closing Meow Wolf’s New York City office and eliminating plans for a proposed office in Los Angeles. The company will also reportedly lower its travel and associated costs by close to $1 million, reduce its spend on professional services and lower funding for the Meow Wolf Foundation in 2024.

In response to Wednesday’s mass layoffs, the MWWC released a statement today that reads, in part: “These cuts will harm working creatives, many of whom were living at near-poverty conditions before the layoffs. We expect these cuts to greatly impact our ability to not only make art, but to operate our exhibitions. Many of these layoffs were for exhibitions staff and security, people who manage our day-to-day customer service and safety. We are working to mediate these layoffs, but in Santa Fe and Denver, Meow Wolf is choosing to continue its pattern of not bargaining in good faith and it is actively pursuing its shameful, fruitless union containment strategies.”

The statement makes clear the union is not calling for a boycott of Meow Wolf exhibits, and it addresses other key points, including: the union’s right to help determine which employees are laid off; repeated filings with the National Labor Relations Board; and potential severance for outgoing workers.

“These were hard-won conditions from our last contract,” the statement reads in regard to severance, “which the company fought against tooth-and-nail and is now taking credit for even as they continue their old union avoidance strategies.”

When Meow Wolf laid off 201 employees in 2020, severance pay was contingent upon employees signing non-disclosure agreements, however, the NLRB ruled in early 2023 that severance agreements could no longer require workers to waive labor law rights.

In response to the union statement, Meow Wolf provided their own, which reads: “Meow Wolf complied with the layoff provisions of its Santa Fe CBA and its Denver CBA, by providing proper notice, considering the union’s proposals and providing the agreed-upon separation benefits to impacted bargaining unit members. Both collective bargaining agreements also provide that after going through this process, the final decision regarding a layoff rests with Meow Wolf.”

This story has been updated with a comment from Meow Wolf that arrived several hours after its initial publication.