BBC is cutting up to 2,000 jobs in its biggest workforce reduction since 2011
The cuts amount to about 10% of the public broadcaster's workforce as it works to close a growing gap between costs and income
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The BBC announced plans to eliminate between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs — about 10% of its global workforce — as the U.K. public broadcaster faces mounting financial pressure.
The redundancy proposals were put to staff directly by interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies during an all-staff call on Wednesday. "Put simply, the gap between our costs and our income is growing," he said in a statement emailed to staff. "This is being driven by a number of factors: production inflation remains very high; our license fee and commercial income is under pressure; and the global economy remains turbulent."
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The BBC had about 21,500 employees globally. Talfan Davies said more details on where cuts will fall would come later this year, with the bulk of changes expected to be worked out over the next three to four months. A voluntary redundancy scheme will be offered to avoid compulsory layoffs, according to Deadline.
Beyond job cuts, the BBC is moving quickly to restrict spending across several areas, including a near-freeze on new hires and reduced outlays on travel, outside consultants, and corporate events. A savings goal of £500 million (roughly $675 million) has been set as the target for reductions across that period.
Bectu head Philippa Childs issued a statement warning that reductions of this magnitude would be "devastating for the workforce and to the BBC as a whole." She added: "At a time of fake news and an industry that is becoming more concentrated in the hands of a few multinational corporations, the U.K. needs a confident, ambitious and sustainably-funded BBC more than ever."
The announcement comes ahead of a leadership transition. On May 18, incoming director general Matt Brittin — who previously ran Google $GOOGL's European operations — is due to assume the role. The position opened up after Tim Davie stepped down in November amid backlash over a BBC documentary focusing on President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.
A central tension Talfan Davies highlighted was the mismatch between who watches and who pays: while nearly the entire U.K. population — 94% — tunes in each month, the share actually paying the £180 annual licence fee falls below 80%. "If we had a funding model that mirrored our consumption, all of this would go away," he said, according to Deadline.