Wimbledon has been accused of firing temporary staff for “strange” reasons after overestimating the required number.
It is believed that several people who worked temporarily in the hospitality and cleaning industry abruptly lost their jobs for reasons like going to the toilet without asking.
At least three temporary workers are said to have lost their jobs by sitting on the hill with a drink after finishing their shift.
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A 19-year-old student who worked as part of the cleaning team said they were initially “tied” to get their shifts as they were relatively well paid.
“But we were working on Wednesday and during the lunch break [friend] he sat on the hill and took some strawberries, “they said.” The next one, he gets an email saying he won’t have any more shifts. Now we are literally touching it to do anything during our breaks or even sit on the hill after finishing work in case we are told there will be no more shifts for us. That’s all weird. “
Another temporary worker described the situation as “expensive” and said, “I think it’s a reflection of management here. They are firing people left, right and center. They’re basically overcrowded and they said there aren’t enough fans here, it’s not what they expected, so they have to fire people.
“People are being fired because they have overcrowding and they use the fact that staff are watching tennis and drinking as an excuse.”
An email sent by a contractor to his staff confirmed that the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) was looking to reduce its staff. “As you may have noticed, the number of visitors is lower than expected, which is why the AELTC has asked us to look at reducing our daily staff,” he said.
The number of attendees at Wimbledon has been slightly lower than expected. Although the capacity is 42,000 per day, the total may be higher when ticket resale is included. About 38,500 fans attended on Wednesday and Thursday. The highest attendance in history was 46,826, one day in 2009.
An AELTC spokesman said: “We value all the staff who help us offer the championships, they are crucial in organizing this world class event.
“We meet annually with each of our major contractors to agree on terms and conditions of work, which are shared with all potential employees. We are thrilled that many of our staff choose to return to work at Wimbledon year after year and help us organize an amazing event. “