Pittsburgh Public Theater terminated an undisclosed number of employees Tuesday as part of an ongoing consolidation with Pittsburgh CLO, with some workers learning they had lost their jobs on the same day they returned from a weeks-long furlough.
Board chair Krysia Kubiak cited “ongoing financial constraints” and the theater’s decision to forgo a traditional fall season in a termination letter sent to affected staff, telling employees their employment was terminated effective immediately.
“Your final day of employment with the Public will be today, May 19, 2026,” the letter read. Kubiak also pointed to the theater’s preparation for a “new, unified organization” as a driving factor behind the cuts.
The theater publicly confirmed the layoffs Wednesday but declined to disclose the exact number of positions eliminated.
The terminations follow a difficult stretch for Public Theater employees. Workers endured a 20% pay cut during the winter of 2025-26 and were placed on an eight-week temporary furlough. Staff had returned from the first four weeks of that furlough on Tuesday, only to be informed their jobs no longer existed.
Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO announced plans to merge in March 2026. The consolidated organization is expected to launch in January 2027. Public Theater officials framed Tuesday’s layoffs as part of the structural changes necessary to build that new entity.
The scale of the layoffs and the specific departments affected have not been confirmed by the organization. It remains unclear how many employees remain on staff ahead of the companies’ merger.
Update (May. 21, 2026): Kubiak has since clarified that the layoffs affected 11 staff members.