The BBC is planning to cut 2,000 jobs as it tries to reduce costs by 10 per cent during the next three years.
The overhaul amounts to the largest downsizing of the licence feepayer-funded public sector broadcaster for 15 years.
An all-staff conference was called today for the corporation’s 21,500-strong workforce – with one in ten employees thought to be potentially affected.
It comes as former Google executive Matt Brittin is due to take charge as the BBC’s new director general next month.
His predecessor Tim Davie announced his resignation last November after a series of controversies including a misleading Panorama edit of a Donald Trump speech.
The US president has threatened a multi-billion-pound lawsuit against the BBC.
Employees were told the news of redundancies during an all-staff call at 3pm today, the Press Association understands.
The corporation recently revealed plans to drastically reduce the team behind the coverage of national occasions, such as royal events and state funerals to one member of staff and freelancers.
The BBC is planning to cut 2,000 jobs as it tries to reduce costs by 10 per cent during the next three years – pictured is the corporation’s HQ near Oxford Circus in central London
Outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie, pictured in January this year, previously announced his resignation after five years in the role
Former Google executive Matt Brittin is due to take over in charge of the BBC next month
The BBC has previously said: ‘Over the last three years we have delivered more than a half a billion pounds worth of savings, much of which we’ve been able to reinvest into our output across the BBC.
‘In a rapidly changing media market, we continue to face substantial financial pressures.
‘As a result we expect to make further savings over the next three years of around 10 per cent of our costs.
‘This is about the BBC becoming more productive and prioritising our offer to audiences to ensure we’re providing the best value for money, both now and in the future.’
The BBC has been approached today for comment.
It was revealed in January 2025 that the BBC World Service was to axe 130 jobs as it looked to save about £6 million for the next financial year.
Predominantly funded through the annual £174.50 licence fee, paid by UK TV-watching households, the BBC has faced pressure over its value for money as it faces competition from streaming giants like Netflix and Disney+.
On April 1, the licence fee rose to £180 per year.
Interim director general Rhodri Talfan Davies, believed to have led Wednesday’s all-staff meeting, will head the corporation until Mr Brittin takes over on May 18.
The broadcaster previously faced calls for an investigation after Panorama was accused of editing a Donald Trump speech to make it seem that he encouraged the January 2021 Capitol insurrection.
Meanwhile, a former BBC boss revealed in February most reporters there were opposed to Reform UK and that she overruled editorial policy to get more primetime airtime for Nigel Farage.
Deborah Turness, who quit as BBC News CEO last November over the Panorama controversy, told a US conference that most BBC journalists were not aligned with what she called Mr Farage’s ‘extreme conservative movement’.
Ms Turness also described pushing for him to be granted more opportunities to appear on air, including on the weekly political flagship show Question Time in the lead up to the 2024 general election.
She resigned along with Mr Davie last November amid a row over the doctoring of a President Trump speech for a Panorama episode.
The decisions came after an internal dossier also exposed a string of incidents demonstrating serious apparent bias in the corporation’s reporting.
The concerns regarded clips spliced together from sections of Mr Trump’s speech on January 6 2021, to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to ‘fight like hell’.
The documentary called Trump: A Second Chance? was broadcast by the BBC the week before the 2024 US election.
The BBC’s incoming director general Mr Brittin left Google last year after 18 years at the tech giant, the last 10 as president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
After stepping down from the tech giant, he had announced plans to take what he called a ‘mini gap year’.
Mr Brittin, previously part of the British rowing team at the Seoul Olympics in 1988, is expected to receive a financial package comparable to the £540,000 to £544,999 paid to Mr Davie.
In 2016, Mr Brittin told MPs on the public accounts committee that he had no idea how much he was paid – while being questioned about a tax deal between HMRC and Google.
Then, in February 2025, after leaving Google Mr Brittin joined Guardian Media Group’s board as a non-executive director.