Organizer MWC fires 20 percent of staff by cancellation of the fair

GSMA, which hosts the Mobile World Congress telecom fair every year, is said to have fired 20 percent of its staff. The layoffs are needed due to the turnover gap because of the cancellation of the stock exchange.

The GSMA gets 80 percent of the income from the exchange, Bloomberg reports based on an interview. MWC was the first major tech fair to be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. After many large exhibitors had already canceled, GSMA decided to open a week and a half to cancel the event.

This concerns a total of 200 of the 1,000 jobs at the organization, which is also cutting other costs. The association has had to cancel another satellite event in Shanghai after MWC due to the coronavirus and hopes that exchanges can continue next year. Organizers of other tech fairs are also preparing for physical events. IFA in Berlin continues in September with up to a thousand invitees, while CES in Las Vegas should become a trade show again in January that will be held physically in addition to online.