BBC to cut 500 more jobs as revenue falls 6% to £5.4bn

BBC says it is facing "serious pressure" on its finances.

BBC director general Tim Davie|BBC annual report front cover — BBC director-general Tim Davie. Picture: Reuters/Hannah McKay/Pool |

The BBC is planning to cut a further 500 jobs by March 2026 and has opened a round of voluntary redundancies amid “serious pressure” on its finances.

The BBC‘s public service headcount (so excluding those who working in the commercial side of the corporation) has already gone down by almost 10% in the past five years amid multiple rounds of cuts and the moving of resources from TV and radio to online.

As of 31 March, the BBC’s public service headcount was at 17,592 – a decrease of 0.5% compared to 2022/23. In 2018/19 the comparable figure was 19,231, a drop since then of 8.5%.