LONDON — The BBC plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs over the next two years to save about 500 million pounds, representing 10% of its annual budget. The reductions are the largest at the broadcaster in more than a decade and will affect roughly 10% of its 21,500 employees.

The BBC announced the planned cuts during an all-staff meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The bulk of the reductions are scheduled for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2027.

Interim Director-General Rhodri Talfan Davies said the job reductions were driven by inflation, pressures on license fee and commercial income, and a turbulent global economy. "I know this creates real uncertainty, but we wanted to be open about the challenge," Davies said on the call with staff.

Earlier this year, the BBC said it faced substantial financial pressures and wanted to cut about a tenth of its budget by 2029. In February, the broadcaster unveiled a cost-cutting plan to save 600 million pounds over three years, stating it would result in job losses and reductions in some programming. Then director-general Tim Davie said at the time that the BBC would need to cut about 10% of its roughly 6 billion pounds annual cost base.

"Over the last three years we have delivered more than half a billion pounds' worth of savings, much of which we've been able to reinvest into our output across the BBC," a spokesperson said in February. Matt Brittin, a former Google executive, is scheduled to take over as director-general of the BBC in May.