Axe for half of BBC personnel workers

Further details of the massive job cuts at the BBC were unveiled today.

They come after last week's announcement by director-general Mark Thompson that 1,900 posts would be axed from support services and the factual and learning department.

Today it was revealed most of the first wave of support cuts will come from BBC People - the human resources division.

Half of its personnel staff will go - 550 out of 1,100. But 350 of those will be outsourced.

More than 540 jobs will go in finance and property, which has a workforce of 1,100. Out of 500 marketing jobs, 119 will be ditched.

In policy and legal, 60 out of 120 jobs are to be culled. And in strategy and distribution, 20 jobs have been earmarked out of a total 60 staff.

About 65 posts will go from learning, 112 from specialist factual and 230 from documentaries.

Individual staff, however, still have to wait until after Christmas to find out if they are to go.