Supercars cuts staff salaries
Supercars has joined a number of other sporting bodies around the world by reducing pay to its staff during the break in racing caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Photo by: Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images
Motorsport.com understands staff, spread across offices in Sydney and on the Gold Coast, have either had hours and pay reduced, or asked to use accrued annual leave at reduced pay, or had their roles temporarily suspended.
The series is adamant there have been no job losses as such, with the job keeper allowance, which is set to pass parliament in Australia today, to keep employees in their role even if they're not currently working.
The Supercars season proper is currently on hold until at least June, although the resumption date is likely to be later than that.
A 10-round Eseries featuring all 25 real-world drivers will kick off tonight, which will provide ongoing work across a number of departments including TV, commercial, and communications.
"We have been very consistent in saying that we as a sport and a business, are not exempt or insulated from the current macro-economic environment," read a statement from Supercars provided to Motorsport.com.
"While our sport is in the public domain, the people who operate behind the scenes are not. We are different to other sports in that we do not centrally administer salary caps or other such programmes.
"We have made, and will continue to make, decisions that we believe are in the best interests of the sport, the teams and our people, so that we keep our staff employed and focus on being ready to roar back into life at the earliest possibility.
"In the meantime, we’re really happy with the positive response from our Docuseries and look forward to the Supercars All Stars Eseries launching tonight."
Formula 1 has placed roughly half of its staff in furlough, while the likes of the Australian Football League, the Football Federation of Australia and the National Rugby League have already stood down staff.
Last week Supercars CEO Sean Seamer explained how the series was at a slight advantage to other sports through factors such as the ability to stage a realistic Eseries, a smaller overall staff footprint, and a longer, more forgiving schedule.
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