US-based Asia Society cuts jobs

The Asia Society, a leading US-based institute promoting ties across the Pacific, will cut some 10 per cent of staff as it feels the pinch from the economic crisis, a spokeswoman said.

The Asia Society, a leading US-based institute promoting ties across the Pacific, will cut some 10 per cent of staff as it feels the pinch from the economic crisis, a spokeswoman said.

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The New York-based society said on Friday it would eliminate about 20 positions -- 11 per cent of its workforce -- as endowment money and donations decline.

"We had been on a pretty strong growth trajectory in recent years. In the last five years we have been growing at about 12 per cent a year," said Asia Society spokeswoman Elaine Merguerian.

"But in the current climate, we have been affected, so there was a feeling that we needed to take this step," she said.

The Asia Society is seeking to trim its 26 million-dollar operating budget by 10 per cent, she said.

Founded in 1956 by wealthy philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, the Asia Society has been a leading institute offering educational and cultural programming to promote relations between Asia and the United States.