CBC/Radio-Canada said it expects to cut about 600 union and non-union positions to cope with budget issues, despite it being handed $1.3 billion of taxpayers' money each year.“CBC/Radio-Canada is not immune to the upheaval facing the Canadian media industry,” said CBC/Radio-Canada President and CEO Catherine Tait in a Monday press release.“We’ve successfully managed serious structural declines in our business for many years, but we no longer have the flexibility to do so without reductions.”CBC/Radio-Canada started off by saying it will be implementing program and job cuts over the next year to manage about $125 million in budget pressures forecast for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It said these pressures come from the same structural factors affecting all media outlets in Canada, including rising production costs, declining television advertising revenue and tough competition for digital grants. Union and non-union job cuts will total about 250 each, with the balance coming from Technology and Infrastructure and other corporate divisions. Each division will begin phasing in reductions based on their business plans and operational requirements. To cope with its financial problems, it will reduce their English and French programming budgets for the next fiscal year, including about $40 million in independent production commissions and program acquisitions. This will result in reduced renewals and acquisitions, fewer new TV series and episodes of existing shows and fewer digital original series. Earlier this year, it began implementing more than $25 million in discretionary cost reductions, including travel, sponsorships, marketing, and postponement of technology initiatives. It will limit filling vacant positions. Since the financial situation could change next year, CBC/Radio-Canada said these reductions are being done to maximize their flexibility and minimize the effects on their employees and the programs and services they provide to Canadians. Tait concluded by saying CBC/Radio-Canada “understand how concerning this is to the people affected and to the Canadians who depend on our programs and services.” “We will have more details in the months ahead, but we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact of these measures,” she said. Access to information and privacy request records published on Tuesday showed the CBC paid for a $75,000 per year executive chauffeur.READ MORE: CBC cuts $75,000 per year chauffeur’s jobThis chauffeur was removed in 2020 to save money during the COVID-19 pandemic.“The services were contracted on an as-requested basis in 2022,” said CBC management.
