SRG announces 202 more full-time job cuts

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) announced on Thursday a new cut of 202 full-time jobs. Most of the reduction, 173 positions, affects the Operations division. The remaining 29 jobs cut are in Human Resources, Finance, Communication & Public Affairs, and the General Staff. The company expects the measure to save 41 million francs.

The decision follows political choices, in particular the reduction of the broadcasting licence fee to 300 francs. To offset this drop in revenue, SRG must save around 270 million francs by 2029, including 80 million already from 2027. Last month the company had already announced savings measures for the regional units RSI, RTR, RTS and SRF, which have now fully met the savings targets set for 2027.

Retirements and layoffs

According to SRG, the staff reduction is being absorbed as far as possible through natural turnover and ordinary retirements. This applies to about half of the planned cuts in the Operations division and in support areas. For the other half of the positions eliminated, SRG itself acknowledges that layoffs and early retirements are unavoidable. The company's existing social plan will apply to affected employees.

The matter also concerns Italian-speaking Switzerland, since RSI is among the regional units already affected by the savings announced in recent weeks. It remains to be seen how many jobs will actually be lost through outright layoffs, and what concrete support will be available to those who cannot rely on ordinary or early retirement. The politically decided cut to the licence fee to 300 francs is thus translating into direct pressure on employment in the public-service media sector, which also serves linguistic minority regions such as Italian-speaking Switzerland.