Fears for 300 jobs as Channel 4 set to make biggest ever round of layoffs

UK public service broadcaster Channel 4 is expected to make a major round of layoffs today, with staff fearing around 300 people will lose their jobs in a drive to cut costs.

Priya Dogra

Sources suggest Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra will announce the findings of an internal strategic review today, as the company looks to find efficiencies due to a sharp drop in advertising revenue.

The Guardian reported that Channel 4 will cut between 300 and 325 roles – around a quarter of its total workforce of 1,276 – in the biggest round of redundancies in its 43-year history.

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “As we have shared publicly, under the leadership of our new chief executive, we have been assessing Channel 4’s strategic direction, including a comprehensive review of the structure, shape and size of our organisation.

“We have committed to keeping Channel 4 staff updated in a timely and transparent way, so any organisational change will be shared with them first and we won’t be commenting on speculation.”

The last extensive round of redundancies was in 2024, when the broadcaster announced it was eliminating around 200 roles under previous CEO Alex Mahon.

The PSB has endured a tumultuous few years, with commercial revenues slumping as advertisers abandon linear TV in favour of YouTube and online-focused campaigns.

The broadcaster has scaled back commissioning significantly and attracted heavy industry criticism for rolling out an in-house production division to monetise its own IP.

Any layoffs would be another blow to the UK’s struggling PSB ecosystem, with the BBC also currently carrying out its own jobs cull which is expected to impact 2,000 roles.