Following the BBC’s announcement it was to cut its spending by 20 percent in the next five years, the broadcasting giant is set to cut more than 2,000 jobs from its 18,000 strong workforce and is the first such action since the company made an agreement with the government last year.
The Financial Times reports that the BBC will not have to close any of its services, calming fears that a the corporation would have to take action over its television channels BBC2 and BBC4.
The plans are not yet official but sources close to the matter have said that BBC director general Mark Thompson will make the announcement on Thursday as part of an initiative called Delivering Quality First.
With the license fee frozen for the next six years, the BBC has battled to lower costs in the face of what could amount to a 20 percent reduction in the BBC’s budget.
The person said that significant sums of money would be saved by the process of moving BBC staff out of London to purpose-built sites in Manchester, at Media City in Salford, and in Glasgow at Pacific Quays.
“There is quite a high turnover in staff at present and we are hoping quite a lot of the job losses will be accounted for like that,” the person said.
Thursday’s announcement will be the third time the BBC has made major job cuts in seven years, which saw 12% of its workforce cut in 2007.
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