Cody Glenn-USA TODAY Sports
Full-time employees of the Giants are safe. Part-timers, though, are seeing the effects of a season that may not involve fans sitting in Oracle Park stands.
The Giants will pay all full-time employees, on both the baseball and business sides of the organization, through the end of September, a source confirmed with KNBR on Tuesday.
There will be some pay cuts during a year in which Major League Baseball has said it could lose up to $4 billion if the sport doesn’t return. Giants employees who make $75,000 or less will not be affected, while there will be a progressive trimming for those who are paid more. The average pay cut is about 10 percent, but the highest-compensated employees will take a larger hit.
The situation is more dire for a group of about 60 part-time employees, two sources said. Workers whose jobs are connected to a season with fans in attendance have been informed they will be furloughed indefinitely beginning June 1. As they are doing for event staff, the Giants have pledged a monthly supplement to the part-timers that will augment their unemployment benefits.
The Giants guaranteeing employment and continued paychecks for full-time workers comes at a time when Major League Baseball and the Players Association are negotiating whether a season can coexist with the coronavirus pandemic. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that professional sports could return to the state as soon as the first week of June, but there is no guarantee fans will return to seats even if there is a season to be played.
With so much unknown, a few teams have issued furloughs to segments of their organization, with the Marlins reportedly furloughing 40 percent of their baseball-operations staff and the Angels reportedly furloughing employees in the front office and player development.
