The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced plans to eliminate nearly 3,000 jobs as part of a plan to reduce expenses. Approximately 2,500 of the jobs would come from non-broadcast positions such as finance, human resources and legal services.

In addition to the planned staff reductions, the BBC intends to move almost 1,800 workers from their London office to a regional office in Manchester. The Manchester office is less expensive to maintain.

Mark Thompson, director-general of the BBC was hopeful that the company would still be able to maintain its quality and remain vibrant. 'My vision for the future of the BBC has three parts: a bold new program and content strategy based above all around the idea of excellence; a transformation of the BBC into a state-of-the art digital broadcaster; and an irreversible shift in the culture of the BBC toward simplicity, opportunity and creativity,' Thompson said.

The BBC hopes to save roughly 320 million pounds or $620 million per year, roughly 10 percent of its annual budget.

The broadcast workers' union announced that they would call a strike vote if any job reductions were enacted.