BBC Outlines Changes for ‘Simpler, Leaner’ Structure

LONDON: Director-General Tony Hall has announced a set of changes to the structure and organization of the BBC that will result in the loss of more than 1,000 jobs, as it tries to compensate for its £150 million ($234.3 million) license-fee deficit.

Hall said that the new measures being proposed will help to deliver £50 million ($78 million) in savings from merging divisions, cutting down management layers, reducing managers and improving processes. More than 1,000 posts will be lost as a result.

In reducing the number of divisions, the technology teams will be brought together across digital, engineering and worldwide, with more changes possible. In a bid to reduce the layers from top to bottom of the organization, where there are currently ten layers of people and management, this will be reduced to a maximum of seven in the future. There will also be fewer management roles in all areas of the BBC. The rationale is that a simpler organization will inevitably require fewer managers, notably at senior levels. Steps are being taken to simplify and standardize procedures across the BBC, particularly looking at how professional and support areas such as marketing and communications, finance, HR, IT support and legal are structured and can be simplified.

Hall commented: “A simpler, leaner BBC is the right thing to do and it can also help us meet the financial challenges we face.

“We’ve already significantly cut the costs of running the BBC, but in times of very tough choices we need to focus on what really matters—delivering outstanding programs and content for all our audiences.”