Coronavirus | Firm takes 'heart-breaking' action as virus hits

Earlier this month, the annual tech, music and film meetup, SXSW, was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak, just a week before it was scheduled to start.

The Verge reported that this is the first time that the Austin-based event has been cancelled in its 34-year stint which was largely due to growing public health concerns and increasing numbers of speaker and company drop-outs.

The cancellation of this year’s event triggered substantial financial loss which resulted in South by Southwest laying off one-third of its permanent staff (at least 50 employees) in a “necessary, but heart-breaking step”.

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“Due to the City of Austin’s unprecedented and unexpected cancellation of the SXSW 2020 events in March, SXSW has been rigorously reviewing our operations, and we are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce,” the festival said in a statement, as reported by Variety.