Resilience, crises, and workforce care in the UK museum sector

Museums’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized as evidence of the sector's resilience. Concurrently, there is evidence across the United Kingdom of a shrinking workforce and stagnating sector. Drawing on interviews with museum sector staff conducted in 2021–2022 and in 2025, predominantly in Northern Ireland, this article critiques narratives of resilience and their impacts in the museum sector. This article suggests that individualized expectations and resilience can obscure the need for systemic change. Recognizing the long-term impacts of austerity and recent crises including the rising cost of living and international conflict, we argue for the need for an ethics of care focused on the long-term wellbeing of museum staff, contending that this is integral to the sustainability of the sector. This article calls for this ethics of care to be built into strong museums leadership, particularly at the level of governance and policy.