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BBC NUJ Job Cuts

Morale low at BBC Scotland as internal staff survey reveals just over a quarter of staff recommend working there

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

May 23, 2013 | 3 min read

Just over a quarter of BBC Scotland news and current affairs staff would recommend the broadcaster as a great place to work, according to an internal report.

Survey: Only 28 per cent of staff would recommend working there

The staff survey, seen by the The Drum, found that only 28 per cent of workers would recommend working there, although 74 per cent said they were proud to work at the BBC.

Strikes and industrial actions have become more frequent at the BBC as the corporation moves forward with redundancies and cuts as part of its Delivering Quality First programme.

Conducted in October 2012, the survey identified four key areas requiring action; leadership behaviours, communication, development and performance management.

A BBC Scotland spokesman said: "We have discussions with staff, including news, on an ongoing basis. This was an internal survey that was conducted last summer. We are aware they have a number of concerns and we are talking to them about how we can address those."

The new action plan includes efforts to 'help managers manage' with mandatory workshops designed to improve people management skills and the formation of staff focus groups and monthly surveys to measure progress.

A BBC Scotland NUJ strike over compulsory redundancies was narrowly averted earlier this year when the broadcaster agreed to enter more discussions. However, union members still took part in a 12-hour UK-wide strike in March over cuts.

The BBC introduced its Delivering Quality First programme in 2011, a year after it was announced the licence fee would be frozen for six years. Around 2,000 jobs are under threat from the programme and it's feared as many as 120 jobs could be cut at BBC Scotland by 2017, 30 of those from the news team.

Head of the Scottish NUJ branch Paul Holleran recently branded the BBC the "worst employer he has ever dealt with" after fighting redundancies at the corporation and said the union would be representing members of staff alleging discrimination at the broadcaster.

The spokesman added: "We're disappointed that Paul feels that way as we've always tried to be constructive in our dealings with the NUJ."

Holleran described the treatment of staff at the BBC "atrocious" and warned of further industrial action to fight job cuts.

BBC Scotland director Ken MacQuarrie and director general of the BBC, Tony Hall, announced on Wednesday that savings from the cuts programme had enabled them to commit £5m to boost coverage of the Scottish independence referendum and Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

BBC NUJ Job Cuts

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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London.

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