A new survey has revealed that close to three-quarters of freelancers working in the UK’s theatre industry lost work between December 2021 and January 2022, as the sector was hit by the onset of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A wave of infections and bookings cancellations impacted the sector following the emergence of Omicron and the new study has highlighted the impact this had on self-employed theatre workers.
The study was conducted by campaign group Freelancers Make Theatre Work alongside the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) between December 26-31 and received 1,983 responses.
The report found that 74 per cent of theatre freelancers lost work due to the pandemic between December 13, 2021 and January 3, 2022. 57 per cent of those had work terminated and 43 per cent saw work delayed. Half of respondents with delayed work said that the rescheduling would likely overlap with other contracts.
55 per cent of those who saw work delayed or cancelled forecast that they would lose up to £2,000 in income as a result, 30 per cent estimated a loss of between £2,000 and £5,000, while 15 per cent thought they would lose income of over £5,000.
The survey also looked ahead to the coming months, with 27 per cent of respondents saying they’d lost work for the January to March period as a result of the pandemic, while 73 per cent anticipate that they will lose work over this time.
30 per cent of freelancers who had lost work scheduled for the next two months anticipate that their lost income will be up to £2,000, 40 per cent expect a loss of £2,000 to £5,000 and another 30 per cent expect an income loss of over £5,000.
A report on the findings said: “Respondents have noticed that less work is on offer, with a reduction in opportunities for international work impacting incomes. Some disabled workers have had to turn down work due to safety concerns.”
“For those who do secure work the impact of cancellation clauses and last-minute contracting practices are noted as concerns. The overall workflow of the industry is changing, with many referencing a bottleneck emerging due to contracts overlapping when delayed and additional work is created by cancellations and isolation periods.”
The report added: “There is great concern around having to leave the industry from individuals at all career stages, with reference to the current culture of fear and stress being unsustainable.”
