Most theaters are happy to be able to reopen from February 7, but the shortage of labor is a spoilsport. After two years of pandemic and yet another particularly demoralizing closure in December, technicians are not running the streets in Quebec.
“Already that our capacity has been reduced by 50%, we are also being asked to find staff in two weeks. We will never be able to get there! It had already been almost impossible to reopen the last time in the spring, when we had to train everyone, ”laments Olivier Corbeil, co-owner in particular of the Fairmount Theater, which has no show on the bill next month.
At the Théâtre aux Écuries, we had planned an unexpected reopening. Thanks to government aid, technicians have continued to be paid and placed on the schedule for a month, as if nothing had happened, so that the machine is ready to be restarted as soon as the health situation improves. allow it.
But now that the Legault government has announced the reopening of theaters, the Theater notes that several positions remain to be filled in view of the play’s grand premiere. Limboon February 17.
“Our technical director has been on the phone since this morning. Even if we had taken it in advance, we have cancellations from technicians. This means that the room will be set up in two days rather than one. The artists will therefore have one day less to rehearse,” regrets the general manager of the place, Marcelle Dubois.
In the short term, the lack of technicians does not threaten programming, while a very gradual recovery is expected. But the Théâtre aux Écuries fears that the shortage will be felt more in the spring, when the season will have resumed its cruising speed in the best of scenarios.
Same story at Espace Go, where additional costs are expected, if only because the stage will take longer to be set up between each show, for lack of workers. “We have to share the workforce between different theaters in Montreal. We also have to hire younger people. All the transmission that usually takes place between the oldest and the youngest will not take place. It will take three or four years in the middle before recovering, “said, indignant, Ginette Noiseux, general manager of Espace Go, between two job interviews on Tuesday.
Readjustments
Ginette Noiseux has no congratulations to the Legault government, which she accuses of having offered very little predictability to the cultural community during the health crisis. Faced with constant uncertainty and repeated closures, workers in the sector have gradually grown tired and have definitively redirected themselves to higher-paying areas.
“I had no hours to guarantee. It’s been difficult since the start of the pandemic and there are still a lot of uncertainties with my team. I even had to hire a 17-year-old guy for the first time,” says Guillaume Mercier, the technical director of the Lion d’Or cabaret.
Since they generally rely on freelancers rather than permanent employees, small venues, such as the Lion d’Or or Espace Go, are hit even harder by the labor shortage than larger theatres. And among the technicians who remain at their disposal, some now hold parallel jobs in another sector.
“I understand that, because we are not able to give as many hours as before, as there have not been as many shows since the start of the pandemic. On the other hand, it requires adjusting according to the schedule of their new job, which can be complicated sometimes, ”underlines Karl-Emmanuel Picard, co-owner of the hall L’Anti, in Quebec.
Abandoned administrative jobs
It’s not just the technical teams that have struggled to recruit since the start of the pandemic. There are no crowds either to occupy administrative positions in performance halls, such as programming director or communications manager.
Here again, we observe that many have preferred to retire or turn to better paying, and above all much more stable, environments in the current context. Even major theaters are not spared.
“I received about two and a half resumes for a position before Christmas. It’s not normal ! We weren’t spoiled for choice, unlike in other years,” worries Cécile Marcotte, general manager of the Théâtre du Rideau vert.