ICM Partners has been the only major Hollywood agency to retain nearly all of its staff without overall pay cuts, as the coronavirus pandemic halted Hollywood production. (The agency released floating assistants at the start of the shutdown, now in its fourth month.)
ICM Partners is now implementing a reduction in support staff, releasing about 40 attendees, who will receive severance packages that include at least three months of health coverage. Along with the cuts, the company is raising the minimum pay rate for all remaining attendees to $ 20 an hour, effective immediately, believed to be the highest among talent agencies.
Additionally, ICM Partners is committed to filling 50% of all new job openings with diverse candidates. The plan was first recommended by Diversify / ICM, an internal group led by board member Lorrie Bartlett.
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ICM Partners had been reviewing its staffing needs when the pandemic hit and the agency, like any other Hollywood company, went to work remotely. With agents and executives operating more independently working from home and using video conferencing, there has been less need for assistants. Additionally, as the agency worked out plans to return to the office, it had to comply with social distancing rules that require fewer people in a confined space, especially the bullpen area where assistants generally sit together.
As a result, ICM Partners is laying off 40 of its 200-300 attendees. Agency co-chairs Sloan Harris and Kevin Crotty informed those affected via Zoom. In addition to the $ 20 hourly wage increase for those who stay, ICM plans to step up the agent training program so attendees effectively become talent representatives.
Here is the internal note sent by Harris and Crotty:
Dear colleagues,
As you know, we began the process of reevaluating all aspects of ICM’s operations late last year. We analyze each line item within the agency to ensure that we were operating in the most efficient manner. One of the key areas we analyzed was our support systems across the Agency, and we concluded that we must redefine the roles of our assistants. Then the pandemic hit, and we turned around to implement a myriad of other adjustments, both large and small, allowing us to retain almost all of our employees on full pay.
Now, given our ongoing analysis, along with the lessons we’ve learned from our remote work experience and the imperative to foster diversity in our workplace (and in the active support of diverse artists), three things have become clear to us:
• Attendees’ wages must be increased to cover the rising cost of living where we do business. To get the best assistants, we will pay the best rates on the market
• We want to reimagine a new and more rigorous agent training program to provide greater structure, better on-the-job training, and make assistants become more important roles within the agency and industry.
• We must place greater emphasis on recruiting highly qualified diverse candidates for all positions.
Consequently, ICM Partners will immediately increase attendee pay to a minimum of $ 20 an hour in the industry. We will also update and expand our agent training program to provide more rigorous training and less servile tasks. We will also do our best to recruit diverse candidates for at least half of all future vacant positions, a plan first recommended by Diversify / ICM, the recently empowered internal group led by board member Lorrie Bartlett that includes 75 ICM employees.
As we turn our attention to our carefully constructed return to work plan, we must recognize that with the efficiency of technology and the need to reassign and reimagine our workplaces, the functional realities of our business have changed. Agents and executives operate much more independently than ever. After completing a thorough analysis of all job functions, as well as consideration of the realities of space requirements, we have determined that in the future we can operate more efficiently with fewer support staff. This is the new reality for almost all companies in all industries and certainly in all areas in ours. To that end, we have made the difficult decision to reduce the number of support staff positions across the enterprise. In doing so, and in appreciation of everyone’s contributions to the agency, our top priority is to ensure that any affected employee has a smooth transition to their next job. For those affected by this decision, we will offer generous payment and benefit packages.
ICM Partners is committed to having the best culture in the agency business. We have proudly been leaders in achieving gender equality within our industry and will now use that experience to become leaders in recruiting, training and promoting inclusive candidates of all races, as well as the LGBTQ + community. We are excited about the immediate implementation of increases for our support staff, and as our business grows in the future, we are committed to finding outstanding candidates to join our ranks and empower them to become the next generation of agents, executives and creative forces. in our business. As always, we remain passionate in our defense of our clients. The world needs your wisdom and entertainment more than ever.
