Thanks to upcoming retirements SRG's austerity measures cost fewer jobs than feared
Several hundred jobs are to be cut at SRG by 2029 as part of cost-cutting measures. Due to a high number of retirements, there will be fewer redundancies than feared.
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- Last week, SRG Director General Susanne Wille announced far-reaching cost-cutting measures.
- 17 percent of the current budget is to be cut by 2029. The measures will be accompanied by job cuts in the "high three-digit range".
- It has now become known that the number of redundancies will be reduced due to the high number of upcoming retirements.
SRG is facing major cost-cutting measures. Director General Susanne Wille made this public last week. Around 270 million francs are to be saved by 2029, which would correspond to 17 percent of the current budget.
Various departments are to be merged. There was also talk of job cuts: Several hundred jobs are to be cut, according to the report.
It was not without reason that the announcement of the austerity measures triggered fears of numerous redundancies. But now the all-clear has been given, at least in part:
As "Watson" reports, the number of redundancies will be reduced by the age structure of the workforce. An above-average number of retirements are due by 2029, meaning that these jobs will not have to be cut through redundancies.
Several hundred employees are due to retire
"Of the current 7,000 employees, several hundred will reach retirement age in the next five years," SRG spokesperson Nik Leuenberger explained to Watson on request. He also pointed out that some of the retirees would still have to be replaced, depending on the nature of their employment.
The cushioning also has advantages for SRG. This is because an internal regulation stipulates that employees who are at least 40 years old and receive notice after ten years of uninterrupted service will receive compensation equivalent to six months' salary.
One month's salary is added for each additional year, up to a maximum of twelve. Fewer dismissals also mean fewer payments of this compensation.
Threat of halving initiative
The central secretary of the media union SSM, Silvia Dell'Aquila, described the cushioning as "fundamentally good news, because fewer employees are likely to be affected by redundancies, which could hit those affected hard depending on their personal situation".
However, Dell'Aquila also emphasized that the job cuts are nevertheless a reality. And the future of those employees who are able to keep their jobs will also be confronted with increased work pressure if the areas of responsibility are not adapted to the respective job budget.
According to calculations by "Watson", SRG's planned savings are based on a worst-case scenario. Based on the current trend, the austerity measures would not be necessary to this extent.
However, the SVP's halving initiative poses a concrete threat to the financing of public service broadcasting - and therefore also to further jobs. This will be put to the vote in 2026.
