Sweden’s state broadcaster, Sveriges Radio (SR), is making major cuts and will completely stop broadcasting in several languages, lay off 180 employees and eliminate the position of “climate correspondent”. The measures are part of a SEK 250 million (€22 million) austerity package.
Broadcasts in Russian, Tigrinya and Radio Sweden Kurdish will cease on March 31. Further cuts will affect Ekot, where the role of China commentator and the China podcast in P1 will be discontinued, and the position of “climate correspondent” will also be eliminated.
– I think this will come as a shock to our audience, says Lorin Ibrahim, a producer at Radio Sweden Kurdish for the tax-funded SR.
A further 180 jobs will be lost, with 100 people given notice and between 60 and 80 employees agreeing to quit with severance pay.
Last fall, the state-owned company announced that it would start making annual savings from 2024, partly due to increased costs such as rent and salary increases. The measures now presented are part of a total savings package of SEK 250 million, including SEK 150 million in personnel costs.
In total, SR has an annual fee income of SEK 3 billion and 2300 employees.