(Source: The Guardian)
The BBC is cutting almost 100 jobs from its monitoring service as part of a drive to save £4m from the unit’s £13.2m budget by April next year.
The restructure will include the closure of its base in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afganistan, though it will retain an operation in Kabul, and two new bureaux will be opened in Jerusalem and Istanbul.
The unit, which currently employs about 320 staff, will also move its headquarters from Caversham Park, Reading, where it has been based since 1943, to London.
A total of 156 roles will be eliminated and 58 new ones created, leaving a net reduction of 98 positions. About 40% of UK-based staff and around 20% of those based overseas are facing the axe, leaving 99 roles left in the UK.
The unit provides translations and analysis of media from across the world including TV, radio, newspapers, online, and social media, for use by the BBC, government departments and other clients including companies and NGOs.[…]