White Cube has axed 38 invigilators and replaced them with security guards. The London gallery said the move was due to “operational processes.”
According to the Art Newspaper, most of the invigilators, whose primary job was to make sure people didn’t touch exhibited artworks, are students and artists who were on zero-hours contracts. This means White Cube wasn’t obliged to provide any minimum working hours.
The gallery informed the workers of its decision in May during a meeting which they believed was for discussing “the upcoming schedule.” Only seven people reportedly turned up for the meeting. As a result, the former invigilators said, “most found out they had lost their jobs either through email or [WhatsApp].” Their jobs ended halfway through June following six weeks’ notice.
“During a cost-of-living crisis and a time when jobs, let alone jobs in the arts, are scarce, [White Cube] has put 38 people into an extremely vulnerable position,” the sacked invigilators said in a group statement. They added that the gallery’s handling of the dismissals was “callous” and “made it difficult for us to respond or receive redundancy benefits.”
One former worker reportedly said that despite many of the invigilators working for the gallery for at least two years, all were paid “under London living wages” and none qualified for redundancy pay.
A White Cube representative did not respond to ARTnews’s request for comment.
They also said that replacing invigilators with security guards is a general trend seen in “similar galleries” that are “moving away from visitor engagement to visitor management.”
A spokesperson for White Cube told the Art Newspaper that the gallery made changes to some “operational processes relating to security at our two London galleries” based on observations about “the ways that members of the public interact with our staff, spaces, and the artworks we exhibit.” She added that “of the 38 casual invigilators previously hired, 13 are continuing casual work with the gallery and give have been granted fixed term or permanent contracts in different roles.”
