[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2268142528.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter a summer of back and forth with its staff over strikes, pay and working conditions, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is launching a voluntary exit scheme as part of its strategy for 2026 through 2030.<\/p>\n
\n\tA spokesperson for the museum told ARTnews<\/em> that \u201cLike many organizations, the V&A is facing rising operating costs, driven by inflation, economic uncertainty, and reduced visitor spending. While we continue to receive government support, below-inflation settlements mean a real-terms reduction in funding over the coming years. As a result, our organizational strategy for 2026-2030 is underpinned by a cautious approach to financial planning and we\u2019re exploring a wide range of measures to reduce costs, including launching a Voluntary Exit scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWorkers at the V&A sites have been striking since the summer. In July, workers at the museum\u2019s new site V&A East Storehouse voted unanimously to strike in a dispute over working conditions. The ballot was organized by the trade union Prospect and, according to the union, 100 percent of members who voted backed strike action on a turnout of nearly 88 percent, while 92 percent also supported action short of a strike.<\/p>\n \n\tOn September 25 and 26, another strike was held, this time at the V&A\u2019s South Kensington site by the unions PCS and Prospect. Prior to the strike, PCS posted a blog on their website titled \u201cThe facts behind the V&A director\u2019s claims,\u201d outlining that the PCS entered negotiations with V&A bosses over the provision of water bottles and adequate seating for front-of-house staff at V&A Storehouse, but there was no movement on pay.<\/p>\n \n\tThe blog post adds that V&A director Tristram Hunt \u201calleged that V&A staff would receive an average pay rise of 4.18%. Yet the vast majority of staff, aside from the lowest paid, are being offered 3.25%. The offer would see staff on the lowest band move to the LLW [London Living Wage]\u2014a 6.9% increase. The employer is, however, refusing to become London Living Wage accredited. Our pay claim is for 8% and double time for bank holiday working. But members have shown a willingness to reach a resolution by compromising in certain areas.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the museum\u2019s strategy deck, the V&A lists \u201cincreasing self-generated income\u201d and \u201cstreamlining operations\u201d as its key objectives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/victoria-albert-museums-strategy-voluntary-exit-scheme-1234801371\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/GettyImages-2268142528.jpg?w=1024″] After a summer of back and forth with its staff over strikes, pay and working conditions, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is launching a voluntary exit scheme as part of its strategy for 2026 through 2030. A spokesperson for the museum told ARTnews that \u201cLike many organizations, the V&A is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2183839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2183839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183839\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2183839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2183839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2183839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}