BBC News to bear deepest cuts amid 2,000 planned job losses | BBC

The BBC’s news operation will cut costs by a higher-than-expected 15 per cent, with staff told that heavy redundancies are expected.

The division, which is home to around a quarter of BBC staff, is undertaking one of the company’s biggest cost-cutting targets as it seeks to cut up to 2,000 jobs in the biggest downsizing in public service broadcasting in 15 years.

Last month staff were informed that, on average across the BBC, around 10% of the company’s 21,500 employees would be affected as part of a £600 million cost-cutting plan, but it was not clear at the time that news operations would see even deeper cuts.

This development took place when Google’s former senior executive Matt Brittin took over as the company’s new general manager as of May 18.

His appointment follows the resignation of Tim Davie in November following highly controversial allegations of bias by a former adviser to the firm.

It also comes after the BBC apologized after the US president sued the company over the way it edited a speech by Donald Trump.

Staff in departments across the BBC are being informed of the level of cuts; Details will be announced in June and those affected will be notified in September.

In a video meeting with BBC News staff, apparently attended by around 300 staff, staff were told to expect significantly deeper cuts than the 10% target across the BBC.

BBC News has been hit hard by cuts in recent years.

Richard Burgess, the director of news and content responsible for more than 800 journalists, said on the video call that the entire news division could expect cost cuts of “about 15 percent” and that layoffs were the main focus.

According to the BBC’s latest annual report, the company spent £324 million on news and current affairs to the end of March 2025, with a significant portion of this coming from salaries.

“Frankly, most of our savings are people,” he told staff. “[The cuts will be] 15 percent of our income. Our income does not consist entirely of salary, there are other things as well, although mostly. After all, [10% is] It’s a figure that spans the whole of the BBC, but this doesn’t take into account that there are areas where cuts are not possible.

“And as a result, in areas where cuts are possible, that number is a little bit higher. Looking across the news, that 15% figure is pretty consistent across most areas of the news.”

At another briefing, the BBC’s chief customer officer, Kerris Bright, was also asked which departments might be targeted more heavily.

Bright, who is responsible for leading the marketing and audience team and the license fee unit, told staff that these teams were bringing in significantly more revenue than they cost to operate, as he considered where cuts might be most impactful.

By contrast, an operation such as BBC News found that “the vast majority of this [cost] The pie chart would be personnel costs”.

Beyond the issue of staff cuts, Burgess said management will “look very carefully at where we can make savings.”

There is speculation that there may be a push among employees, particularly those broadcasting away from studios, to introduce mobile journalism kits to reduce the use of relatively expensive satellite vehicles and dedicated crews.

In radio, staff fear the consolidation of local services, especially those parts of the day with small audiences, into a network-wide broadcast, as seen in commercial radio.

Last year Global ended all local programming on its Heart, Smooth and Capital radio brands in the UK as part of a cost-cutting plan to move to a “nation strategy” where all output would be broadcast from London.

The BBC has already introduced cost-saving measures, including reducing travel by 40% and significantly tightening spending on consultants, conferences, events and awards.

A recurring theme in staff briefings has been the issue of highly paid staff sharing the expected cost through restructuring and pay cuts.

Last year, the BBC’s public service arm paid fees ranging from £100,000 to £350,000 to 237 executives classed as senior leaders in the UK, according to the company’s latest annual report.

In addition, the BBC spent £140 million on employees in on-air roles, which are considered staff who spend 80% or more of their time on TV or radio.