Strike On The Cards As ITV Jobs Go

Bad news for ITV. They are facing a potential strike after an announcement that 1,000 employees would be classified as redundant due to decreasing interest in advertising. The redundancies will amount to a cut of 20% across the network's branches. It is expected that the English regional news branch will be the hardest hit with 430 positions cut.

ITV has refused to take compulsory redundancies off the table as a method of reaching regional news savings. This has obviously not gone over well with the related unions. Broadcast union BECTU has refused to rule out a strike as a response to the decision and some fear that a future labor conflict is inevitable.

The new redundancies were announced only one week after ITV also gained permission from Ofcom to make cuts in regional services. This decision is expected to remove 90 jobs from Plymouth, Carlisle, Gateshead, and Bristol.

ITV will officially eliminate the West Country and Border branches through mergers with other neighbouring companies. Company officials are standing by their decision, citing that it will save £75 million a year which can then be used to safeguard the struggling £1 billion programming budget. Roughly 400 jobs will move to positions in Leeds, Manchester, and London as part of the effort. Additional cuts are still expected from general business disposals.

ITV advertising has suffered recently. Recent numbers show a decrease of 20% last month, with an expected 5% total drop for the year.

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