Vancouver Aquarium closing to the public until further notice

[SpongeG]

Vancouver Aquarium closing to the public until further notice

Aquarium announced Monday it is laying off 209 staff as losses continue
CBC News · Posted: Aug 31, 2020

The Vancouver Aquarium announced Monday more than 200 staff members are being laid off, primarily from the operations sector, as the aquarium closes to the public in an effort to save money after months of financial loss.

The Ocean Wise Conservation Association, which runs the facility, said in a statement all public programming will be "paused" until further notice as of Sept. 7.

The closure means dozens of people, from full-time to part-time to casual workers, are losing their jobs.

"Staff reductions were an incredibly difficult decision and one we truly hoped to avoid," Christian Baxter, board chair of Ocean Wise, wrote in the statement.

The layoffs announced Monday are in addition to more than 330 people who already lost their jobs at the aquarium in the early spring.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...2020-1.5706251

[whatnext]

Not a good sign. The Parks Board messaging that people coming by car weren't welcome in Stanley Park likely didn't help.

[Klazu]

I bought an annual membership durin summer to support them and went once when they reopened. It was busy so really surprised by this.

[mezzanine]

Originally Posted by Klazu

I bought an annual membership durin summer to support them and went once when they reopened. It was busy so really surprised by this.

probably they had to limit daily admissions due to physical distancing requirements

[Klazu]

They did and it was well organized but as the email to members says, it wasn't profitable to keep doors open and they lost more money every day than if staying closed. We really need to reopen the economy or there is nothing left. How many hundreds of billions this government is ready to go into debt before priorities change? I hope Vancouver Aquarium makes it through this crisis.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Most of East Asia thought the same - they immediately regretted reopening. If it were safe to stop the lockdown, we'd have done it yesterday.

[WBC]

Originally Posted by Klazu

They did and it was well organized but as the email to members says, it wasn't profitable to keep doors open and they lost more money every day than if staying closed. We really need to reopen the economy or there is nothing left. How many hundreds of billions this government is ready to go into debt before priorities change? I hope Vancouver Aquarium makes it through this crisis.

The real economy is fine. Even retail is coming back. But the experience economy is getting slammed. At the end of the day the entertainment, the restaurants and tourism are not what drives the economy - they are the icing on the cake that people spend money on when things are going well. None of that stuff is really needed. And, yes it sucks for people who work in these areas, particularly because these are low paid jobs, but the world is not going to end because of it.

[s211]

Wow, over 500 mouths to feed at the aquarium, and that's just counting the humans.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by WBC

The real economy is fine. Even retail is coming back. But the experience economy is getting slammed. At the end of the day the entertainment, the restaurants and tourism are not what drives the economy - they are the icing on the cake that people spend money on when things are going well. None of that stuff is really needed. And, yes it sucks for people who work in these areas, particularly because these are low paid jobs, but the world is not going to end because of it.

Last time I checked tourism was part of the “real economy”.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/t...lue-of-tourism

[WestCoastEcho]

My knowledge is that all the employees that being laid off are now going to be permanently laid off, with severance. I suspect many won't return even when the Aquarium reopens.

[Nites]

Originally Posted by s211

Wow, over 500 mouths to feed at the aquarium, and that's just counting the humans.

I didn't know that many people worked there. Thought the number was around 100.

[WestCoastEcho]

Originally Posted by Nites

I didn't know that many people worked there. Thought the number was around 100.

When you consider all of the work groups necessary to run the public side of the aquarium (educators, cleaning staff, retail, food services, office administration, guest services, etc), it can quickly add up.

[casper]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Last time I checked tourism was part of the “real economy”.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/t...lue-of-tourism

A better way of describing it would have been the "essential economy". That part of the economy that is needed to sustain life and keep society functioning.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by casper

A better way of describing it would have been the "essential economy". That part of the economy that is needed to sustain life and keep society functioning.

Either way, Metro Vancouver now has an unemployment rate of 12.4% which is huge and will ripple throughout all of the economy.

[casper]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Either way, Metro Vancouver now has an unemployment rate of 12.4% which is huge and will ripple throughout all of the economy.

Some weird dynamics at play in the economy and no idea how it will play out.

Household debt is down. People are being more conservative with what they spend money on. I can see a visit to the aquarium being fairly low on the list.

The generation that went through the great depression was far more conservative with how they spent money. Going out for dinner was something you did as a rare special occasion versus something you did once a week. It is not clear if this is short term or will be long lasting and amount to a generational shift in values.

We could easily end up in the situation where a number of these service industry jobs never return.

[ecbin]

Originally Posted by casper

Some weird dynamics at play in the economy and no idea how it will play out.

Household debt is down. People are being more conservative with what they spend money on. I can see a visit to the aquarium being fairly low on the list.

The generation that went through the great depression was far more conservative with how they spent money. Going out for dinner was something you did as a rare special occasion versus something you did once a week. It is not clear if this is short term or will be long lasting and amount to a generational shift in values.

We could easily end up in the situation where a number of these service industry jobs never return.

Comparing going out to dinner between generations 100 years apart is painting a inaccurate picture of how frugal a generation was. Dining out was an expensive affair 100 years ago compared to today - the cost of living AND the standard of living are entirely different in today's world.

That generation saw half the banks fail and they wore burlap sacks during the Depression.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by ecbin

Comparing going out to dinner between generations 100 years apart is painting a inaccurate picture of how frugal a generation was. Dining out was an expensive affair 100 years ago compared to today - the cost of living AND the standard of living are entirely different in today's world.

That generation saw half the banks fail and they wore burlap sacks during the Depression.

That's true. We are living in some truly interesting times. I'm not a firm believer in MMT but this is a big test and so far it's working. The government can fire up the printing presses and keep everyone afloat. Without these supports, we could have seen banks failing and bread lines.

Obviously it can't last permanently, but when we truly put the health and safety of citizens at the top of the list, other concerns start to look a little silly.

[casper]

Originally Posted by ecbin

Comparing going out to dinner between generations 100 years apart is painting a inaccurate picture of how frugal a generation was. Dining out was an expensive affair 100 years ago compared to today - the cost of living AND the standard of living are entirely different in today's world.

That generation saw half the banks fail and they wore burlap sacks during the Depression.

The Bank of Canada was created during the depression to be the Bank for private banks to avoid banks failing. That mechanism is still there today. So I don't think bank failures are in the cards in Canada. Urban unemployment rates in Canada were 17% during the great depression.

I would not count on restaurants or aquariums bouncing back quickly.

Pre-covid Canadian household debt was 175% within two months it went down to 158%. Until now it has been slowly moving up for years.

Canadian saving rate went from 8% to 28%.

There is a fundamental change in how people are managing money. It involves spending less and saving more. What is unknown is if it is a permanent change or just temporary.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by casper

Some weird dynamics at play in the economy and no idea how it will play out.

Household debt is down. People are being more conservative with what they spend money on. I can see a visit to the aquarium being fairly low on the list.

The generation that went through the great depression was far more conservative with how they spent money. Going out for dinner was something you did as a rare special occasion versus something you did once a week. It is not clear if this is short term or will be long lasting and amount to a generational shift in values.

We could easily end up in the situation where a number of these service industry jobs never return.

Household debt is down because people were unable to spend much money in the beginning and now many are too scared to go out and spend it. Savings are also up because the gov't was essentially handing out free money. Stas show way more money was disbursed by the Feds in assistance than disappeared through job loss.