RS instructors and Covid?

[Skib]

For most of my riding life I had to hack out in company and some of the staff I hacked with have kept in touch.
One of the best who went on to qualify with BHS as a more advanced instructor and worked at a well regarded RS, reported that she had lost her job under Covid.
Does anyone know what is happening to riding school staff in general?

 

[EventingMum]

It depends on the yard. Some of my staff were furloughed during the first lockdown and then were on partial furlough as clients gradually came back. That worked well as many horses were out over the summer so less mucking out etc. Now as we can only take people from our local authority area our income has fallen but we are still just about making ends meet so everyone still has their jobs - if restrictions stop lessons it will be hard as we still have horses to feed etc. I will do all I can to keep my staff in jobs but can't guarantee it, unfortunately. The worst-case scenario is jobs going and horses being sold which is a devastating thought, I really hope we can survive until the vaccine is fully rolled out and proven effective.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

Surely this depends as to whether the staff are purely instructors or yard staff as well?
As previous poster has said horses are in and still need looking after, so yard staff needed.
If purely an instructor and no clients not alot to do.
I think lots of employers would like to keep their staff but I personally no 1 or 2 that are going to be lucky to still be here at the end of this, so therefore need to let staff go.
Also sometimes instructors are there on a self employed basis so no lessons no work and unfortunately then don't qualify to receive furlough.

 

[teapot]

I've heard the odd furloughed becoming redundant, but depends entirely on the yard/centre and their finances. Some centres have survived the last nine months in an ok manner, others really haven't.

It's also a lot cheaper to have someone employed aged between 18-21, than it is to have senior staff, purely from wages point of view. Sad (and not something I necessarily agree with) but when you've got horses to feed and bills to pay (yards cost a fortune to run remember, whether open or closed), you can see why staff changes happen.