Thursday, June 12
Schwuz layoffs: Germany’s largest queer club to let go of one third of staff
The Neukölln club is one of the oldest and largest queer spaces in all of Germany, but it appears that hard times have come for Schwuz. The club has laid off 33 employees, including many long-time staff—some of whom have been at the venue for over 20 years. These layoffs represent a third of the club’s entire workforce.
Understandably, many of the staff are unhappy. Speaking to rbb, some expressed surprise both at the abruptness of the dismissals and the manner in which they were carried out. One employee commented: “It was very, very shocking. There was no communication beforehand; the termination notices simply arrived in people’s mailboxes.”
Katja Jäger, the managing director of Schwuz, argued that the layoffs were inevitable if they wanted to avoid “closing the club at some point”, and pointed to a range of cost-cutting measures undertaken across the organisation. These include shutting the Pepsi Boston Bar on Wednesdays and Thursdays, installing lockers in place of a staffed cloakroom, and using AI to automate office work. The club is also attempting to raise €150,000 through crowdfunding for further infrastructure upgrades.
Most frustrating of all to the laid-off workers, however, was a comment made by management as staff were let go. Workers were reportedly advised not to take the matter to court, as the legal costs could jeopardise the entire future of Schwuz—a statement that felt to some like an implicit threat.
This news comes amid difficult times for Berlin’s club scene more broadly: Watergate shut at the end of 2024, Wild Renate is set to close at the end of 2025, and beloved institutions like Griessmühle (2020), Mensch Meier (2023) and Rummels Bucht (2020) have also disappeared.
