BBC to cut up to 25% of staff by 2016

Corporation seeks more job losses as it holds considers other cost-cutting measures such as reducing daytime output The BBC is planning to cut up to a quarter of its workforce by 2016 in order to make the necessary savings following the six-year licence fee freeze . More than 1,000 job losses have already been announced – including 650 at the World Service and 360 from the BBC’s online operation – and this figure is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. BBC executives are understood to be working with a 25% staff reduction figure as they draw up plans to meet director general Mark Thompson’s target of a 20% cut to the corporation’s costs in the coming years. According to BBC internal figures, as of September 2010 about 21,927 full-time staff were employed by the corporation, including 1,865 at commercial arm BBC Worldwide. This suggests total job losses could top 5,000, although BBC sources said no specific jobs figure could yet be put against the 25% staff reduction as a number of factors are still being worked out. For instance, the number of job cuts may be reduced if greater than expected savings are made in areas other than staff cost. The September 2010 BBC staff figure also excludes World Service employees. The BBC spent just over £1bn on salaries during the 12 months to the end of March 2010, out of a total licence fee income of £3.6bn. A BBC spokesman said the savings being made will “transform the BBC”. “Whilst we cannot speculate about job losses because it is far too early to say, there are many other ways of make savings and it will depend on what we can achieve in areas such as technology and finding better ways of working,” the spokesman added. “That is why we are asking staff for their ideas and input now including how we become a simpler organisation, and how we can attract, retain and inspire the best people. We recognise that this is difficult for staff and will be providing as much support as is possible to those areas affected.” However, BBC source said: “The only way to make the savings is by cutting headcount. The BBC has made so many efficiencies, it is very lean already.” The issue of how big the BBC should be is being planned out as executives gear up for moving out of BBC Television Centre in west London . BBC children’s, learning, sport, BBC Breakfast and parts of technology and Radio 5 Live are moving to the BBC’s new northern headquarters in Salford by next year, while BBC News is moving to the redeveloped Broadcasting House in central London. Remaining staff, such as BBC Vision employees, are due to be housed in buildings in White City just down the road from Television Centre, alongside BBC Worldwide. The iconic Television Centre is due to be emptied by about 2015/16 and sold, although the BBC is considering keeping a small presence there and renting some studios. Alongside the proposal to cut 25% of staff, there is a series of internal discussions about savings, under the banner Delivering Quality First. According to reports, one idea being mooted is to cut BBC2 daytime output and replace it with footage from the BBC News Channel. Those familiar with the situation say it could save between £12m and £15m a year. One executive said: “Politically it’s a good statement and would not be terribly bad share-wise. It would also help prop up BBC1′s Weakest Link, which is expensive and has been hit a bit by ITV’s The Chase.” However, the outgoing BBC Trust chairman, Sir Michael Lyons, said last week at his farewell speech at the London School of Economics that cutting BBC2′s daytime to fill it with news in order to save money is “not the preferred option” and he thinks it “unlikely” it will end up being a proposal put to the trust. ‘Staff are incredibly stressed and getting more so by the day’ As the BBC considers the impact of the licence fee freeze, the picture for programme-makers at the coal face is already bleak in some areas. One BBC producer claimed efficiencies are so tight on BBC4 series Timeshift that producers could not afford camera crews and are having to “self-shoot” while researchers and assistant producers learn how to record sound. In addition, they are having to travel with kit on National Express coaches, rather than more expensive trains or cars and work very long hours. One source said: “Although the health and safety policy and risk assessment will dictate a day no longer than 14 hours, this isn’t always adhered to because there just isn’t money for hotels. “People will say that they’re fine and that it’s going well, to save face with the executives, when behind the scenes the staff are incredibly stressed and getting more so by the day.” The insider alleged that staff feel pushed and are “too exhausted and stressed to follow health and safety procedures”. “These schedules don’t work, they don’t encourage a creative atmosphere but they do create stressed staff.” Another producer said that in their division contracts of around one or three months were increasingly “the norm” as the BBC tries to save money but said it is leading to job insecurity and lack of loyalty. •

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