Meow Wolf, the New Mexico company known for its immersive art installations, has announced a new round of layoffs ahead of Christmas.

The company announced the layoffs in a statement to the Santa Fe Reporter, citing “evolving trends” that have led to fewer visitors and a shift in the company’s plans ahead of a planned expansion into Los Angeles in 2026. The company has locations in Las Vegas, Denver, and the Texas cities of Houston and Grapevine.

“In response to this, we have internally announced a strategic restructuring of our central staff to align with our future priorities,” Meow Wolf said. “As part of this process, we offered eligible employees the option to apply for a voluntary separation package.”

The company said its offer of voluntary separation packages reflects its commitment to providing “thoughtful and compassionate support during this transition.” Details of the separation packages were not provided.

Meow Wolf did not return a request for comment by press time, including questions about why the company chose to announce the layoffs before Christmas and how many workers the company planned to lay off.

The Meow Wolf Workers Collective, a union organized under the Communication Workers of America, has released a statement about the company’s planned layoffs.

The union challenged Meow Wolf leadership to reduce the number of executive positions, normalize relations with the union, and move away from using contractors to prioritize the career paths of full-time employees. They also noted that Meow Wolf’s exhibitions are “chronically understaffed” which have left the spaces “poorly maintained.”

“The workers at the bottom should not be the tool to ‘fix’ decisions at the top. It is especially despicable at this time of year. Meow Wolf deserves better, and our guests deserve better,” the union said, asking Meow Wolf’s board of directors to hold chief executive Jose Tolosa to account.

In fact, an online petition signed by employees seeking a vote of no confidence in Tolosa has garnered at least 363 signatures. The employees have demanded that Tolosa immediately resign and accused him of “staggering” financial mismanagement.

“Under your leadership, Meow Wolf has held multiple rounds of layoffs, attendance has faltered, employee morale has deteriorated, and guest safety has been compromised to an alarming extent,” the petition reads. Tolosa told the Santa Fe Reporter that he has no intention of stepping down.

Inside Meow Wolf’s Convergence Station in Denver. Photo: Jess Bernstein, courtesy of Meow Wolf.

The layoffs come after cuts earlier this year just before the Santa Fe company announced a major expansion into Los Angeles, planned for 2026. In April, Meow Wolf let go of some 165 workers across its departments after mass layoffs in 2020 cut more than 250 employees.

After those layoffs, a former employee who resigned in December after six years as a senior director decided to come forward with observations of what is plaguing the company, beginning by noting that the layoffs came after Meow Wolf bloated its leadership by offering “astronomical salaries” to former bigwigs from Disney and Nickelodeon.

“To the outside, Meow Wolf appears to be a mecca for artists. A place where you get a salary (with benefits!) to spend your day creating art, surrounded by like-minded weirdos. And while that is technically true, there are some major factors that make that reality more of a mirage,” Joanna Garner wrote on LinkedIn.

Garner wrote that the intensity of production was “exhausting” with a “lack of meaningful reward for artistic contribution” and also pointed to the “massive inequity of power” within the company as well as a lack of transparency that made workers feel like “being a pawn in some larger game.”