Fourteen employees of the Glenbow Museum were informed their jobs would be cut back or cut entirely on Wednesday morning, as the museum looks to tame a persistent deficit.

The cuts amount to 9.9 full-time positions, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, including two people who will lose their jobs entirely.

“It’s a very sad place to be right now,” union president Kim Hallis said of the mood at the museum. “We’re all very close.”

Hallis said 2.4 full-time management positions are also being reduced, but no current managers will lose their jobs.

Staff expected some cuts, Hallis said, as the Glenbow has been running deficits of more than $1 million for the past three years. But when the axe came down she said employees were “surprised by the breadth of it.”

Glenbow president and CEO Kirstin Evenden said the cuts were necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the museum.

“That sustainability is what we’re really focusing on right now,” she said. “We’re determined to reduce and eliminate the deficit.”

The job cuts will save the museum $700,000 annually, Evenden said, while other operating changes are expected to save an additional $500,000 a year.

More museum changes:

• The Glenbow Museum will be closed on Mondays, beginning in September.
• The number of “exhibition seasons” will be reduced to three per year, down from four.