STAFF CUTS AT ASIA SOCIETY

Facing a 30 percent drop in its endowment, Asia Society has cut its staff by about 11 percent, Vishakha N. Desai, the society’s president, said yesterday, reports Robin Pogrebin for the New York Times. Of its 160 full- and part-time employees, the society eliminated eighteen positions through layoffs and attrition. Having already turned to its board for emergency financing, Desai said, the society needed to find other ways to cut its twenty-six-million-dollar annual operating budget by 10 percent. “How can we reduce the budget?” Desai said. “We can’t get there without some personnel changes.” Like other cultural institutions around the country, Asia Society is girding for next year, given that donations from corporations and individuals are expected to continue to decline. “People who used to give you twenty-five thousand dollars are giving you ten thousand,” Desai said.