BBC to make swingeing staff cuts, with up to 2,000 roles to go – reports
The scale of the cuts being made at the BBC will start to become clear this afternoon, with up to 2,000 staff set to lose their jobs, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Quoting people familiar with the matter, the FT says up to 2,000 people are set to leave the UK public broadcaster as part of a round of sweeping cuts. That would represent around one in ten employees in the corporation’s 20,000+ UK workforce.
A company-wide meeting is being held this afternoon by interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies who will announce the measures prior to the arrival of new DG, former Google exec Matt Brittin, on May 18. Senior leadership was briefed on Wednesday morning.
Brittin served as president of EMEA business and operations at tech giant Google until he stood down last year. He steps into the shoes of incumbent Tim Davie, who resigned last November in the wake of the Panorama documentary scandal that led to Donald Trump filing a US$10bn defamation lawsuit against the corporation
The cuts, if not the scale of them, were to be expected following the March publication of the BBC’s ‘annual plan’ which warned it was “at risk like never before” and radical reform would likely lead to the corporation slashing both commissioning rates and the services it provides.
Matt Brittin
Photo: Matt Brittin
The 101-page document said the BBC is experiencing a pivotal moment in its history, navigating a period of huge transition in the media ecosystem while also lobbying for a royal charter agreement with the government to safeguard its future funding model.
In February, outgoing Davie told staff the broadcaster needs to increase its belt tightening, with more cuts on top of the current drive to save about £150m (US$204m). He said the BBC must make up to £600m of savings in the next three years, equating to around 10% of its costs, in the face of financial pressures such as fewer households paying the licence fee.
At that time, Davie gave no indication if it would mean more lay-offs or services being trimmed. However, the annual plan suggested that cuts will have to be enforced.
Davie said at that point: “Let’s be clear – the BBC, needed more than ever, is at risk like never before. Given financial pressures, infinite choice and changing audience behaviour, the organisation must make some tough choices in the year ahead to reshape how we operate.”
Head of broadcasting union Bectu Philippa Childs described the reported cuts today as “devastating for the workforce and to the BBC as a whole”.
“The BBC has faced funding cuts over the last decade with real terms income from the licence fee down £1.3bn – further cuts of this scale will inevitably damage its ability to deliver on its public mission,” she said.
“BBC staff are already under significant pressure after previous redundancies and Bectu will be engaging with the BBC to fully understand the implications of these cuts. This will also inevitably impact the wider creative industries ecosystem, given the BBC’s crucial anchor role in commissioning content and nurturing talent.
“At a time of fake news and an industry that is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few multinational corporations, the UK needs a confident, ambitious and sustainably-funded BBC more than ever. The Government must ensure that Charter Renewal puts the BBC’s funding on a more secure, long-term pathway and prevent our national broadcaster facing death by a thousand cuts.”
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