Member Login

Compensation and Talent

December 6, 2022

As the end of the year draws near, we want to understand how arts organizations have fared in terms of their overall staff retention and hiring practices over the last 12 months, as well as perceptions around talent, compensation policies, and workplace culture. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on overall impressions of the hiring landscape, staff composition, shifts in talent qualifications and requirements, and any new processes implemented to improve work environment and pay. Highlights from the survey include:

  • Arts leaders agree that the hiring landscape for the arts and culture sectors is harder today than pre-pandemic years. At the same time, one-third of organizations have the same turnover rate as pre-pandemic.

  • Looking at this current calendar year, over half have added 1-5 FTE staff, but 12% of organizations have added 20 or more FTE staff.

  • At least 40% of arts organizations hire out of industry for non-artistic positions (e.g., development, marketing, etc).

  • In the past year, the majority of arts organizations have increased revenues by selective ticket increases, while expense reduction is led by decreasing the number of donor stewardship events.