Channel 4 has confirmed plans to cut jobs in a bid to lower its costs amid falling advertising revenues.
In an email to staff today (8 January) chief executive Alex Mahon said it needed to accelerate plans to become a digital-first broadcaster, which required it to adapt.
The Guardian reported this weekend that around 200 jobs were at risk. Channel 4 employs around 1,200 people in the UK and has an annual wage bill of more than £108m.
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Mahon said: “Given all the market change and complexity that we need to adapt to, there will be an impact on jobs at Channel 4.
“What we are doing now is accelerating our existing plans to weather the sharp and protracted advertising slowdown that has hit the whole industry. We have been working carefully to minimise the impact on individuals.
“Getting our organisation into the right shape and the right size for the digital world is a process we have been engaged in for some time. The market is shifting fast, and, as we have always done, Channel 4 has to move fast to adapt and imagine our future for a world that will continue to change.”
The job cuts are likely to fall in its programming commissioning and operations teams.
The company had planned to move more roles out of London and previously announced intentions to increase employee numbers elsewhere in the UK to 600 by 2025. It is understood to have more than 500 people across sites in Leeds, Glasgow, Bristol and Manchester.
A spokesperson told the Guardian: “Like every organisation, we are having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a wholly digital public service broadcaster in the long term.
“As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation.”
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Last year Channel 4 launched a period support policy that allows people who experience difficulties with their periods to take up flexible working arrangements, free period products in the office and a quiet room where they can take time out.
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