FOX 7 Austin interview with the creators of 'I Lost My Gig' website
AUSTIN, Texas - FOX 7 Austin is sitting down with the creators of the 'I Lost My Gig' website. The website is chronicling some of the economic impact on Austin's creative community and service industry after SXSW's cancellation.
A third of employees of SXSW have been laid off after the festival was canceled.
That does not include the contractors and freelancers who also lost work and pay.
A SXSW spokesperson provided the following statement to FOX 7 Austin:
"Due to the City of Austin's unprecedented and unexpected cancellation of the SXSW 2020 events in March, SXSW has been rigorously reviewing our operations, and we are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce. Today we said goodbye to approximately one-third of our full-time staff."
Those of us in the business of live events know the level of trust required to execute an event of SXSW's scale, and we are deeply sad to let people go this soon. We are planning for the future and this was a necessary, but heartbreaking step."
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The 2020 events were due to start this week but were canceled on Friday in a joint press conference of city and county leaders. Austin and Travis County leaders also declared a local state of disaster due to the coronavirus concerns.
