Independent Brooklyn creative agency Big Spaceship went through a round of furloughs last month, as well as taking a number of other cost-cutting measures including salary reductions.
“At the beginning of April, we made the difficult decision to furlough several crew members amounting to approximately 7% of total staff,” Big Spaceship acknowledged in a statement. “We have clients in some of the earliest hit industries, which required us to make some tough choices given the impact to our business. In addition to the furloughs, we’ve implemented some salary reductions on a sliding scale based on income level as well as prudent cost-cutting measures.”
Big Spaceship employs a little over 100 employees. The agency has worked with JetBlue since 2017, when the airline selected Big Spaceship as its digital design partner following an eight-month review process. Big Spaceship also counts Bloomberg, Google, Sony, Starbucks and YouTube among its client roster.
A little over a year ago, Big Spaceship hired Layne Harris as svp, creative technology and innovation and promoted Laura Breines to managing director. Harris appears to be among the employees furloughed, listing his status on LinkedIn as furloughed and available for freelance assignments.
“The value we place on both our team and our connections to one another are a primary reason we’ve been resilient in the face of crises and disruptions over the last two decades. But resilient and intact are two different things and people’s lives were changed, and no one is more deeply affected than those who were furloughed,” the statement continued. “Several areas of our business are showing growth and increased demand and it’s our hope that we can reinstate many of the furloughed roles as things begin to stabilize in the world.”
Big Spaceship added that the agency has made “every effort to take care of those affected by making sure their health insurance premiums were fully covered by the company during the furlough and staying in touch to share networking guidance, freelance opportunities and wellness resources.”
In addition, the agency is offering negotiation training, mental health and wellness resources and open office hours for its employees, with additional offerings coming soon, the agency explained.
“Over the last seven weeks, our team and our clients have worked with flexibility, respect, speed and incredible results in response to monumental challenges,” the statement concluded. “We’ve never been more proud of what these incredible people are able to accomplish.”
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