Recommendation 3

The BBC faces a significant challenge in a very competitive market to recruit and retain staff with the right digital skills. The BBC had a 23% staff turnover rate in its digital product group as of June 2022. Shortages of digital skills are an economy-wide challenge that is not unique to the BBC, and we have regularly heard of similar challenges across government itself, for example with our recent inquiry into the defence digital strategy. The BBC reports that these challenges became more complex during 2022 because of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to wage increases as well as more staff working remotely, with people in a local area becoming part of a wider, sometimes international, recruitment market. However, the BBC says that attrition rates are now reducing and its ability to recruit and retain staff is improving. The BBC does not pay digital staff as much as many of its rivals. It acknowledges that it has increased the ranges for some of its digital jobs by more than the standard pay rise that it gave to most of its employees last year. While salaries are important, the BBC also seeks to make the most of its inherent attractiveness as an employer giving the opportunity to work on a very wide range of products compared to others and also supporting a public service purpose. Recommendation 3: The BBC should develop a plan for how it will maintain its recent progress in recruiting and retaining specialist digital staff including succession planning specific to the key digital skills that it needs for the future.