NEARLY half of Britain’s TV workforce is unemployed, with one in three planning to leave the industry within five years, a Bectu survey revealed today.

Two in three workers reported struggling to pay the bills, with disabled, working class and ethnic minority workers hit the hardest, the Big Bectu Survey 2025 found.

Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said: “This is a wake-up call. The industry must not stand by while the very people who make TV possible are pushed to breaking point.

“Behind every statistic is a skilled professional who is critical to our world-class TV industry, but is being driven out by unstable work, poor conditions and toxic cultures. 

“Without urgent action from broadcasters, streamers and production companies, we risk losing a generation of talent and further entrenching inequality in the industry.”

The survey of more than 3,600 people working in TV drama, unscripted and factual television, broadcasting, and commercials found that 42 per cent of TV workers from working-class backgrounds were out of work in March compared with 37 per cent from other backgrounds.

Disabled workers were also more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled colleagues, with six in 10 non-white workers reporting direct experiences of racial abuse or discrimination.

The survey also raised fresh concerns for toxic workplaces, with nearly three in four workers saying that behaviour that would be unacceptable elsewhere is tolerated in TV, and 61 per cent witnessed or experienced bullying or harassment in the past year.

Nearly eight in 10 said that their last job was through personal contacts, and 18 per cent reported that they are “really struggling” with their well-being. 

Precarious work is undermining the industry’s future, warned Bectu, after 87 per cent of TV workers described their work as insecure.

Ms Childs added: “These findings lay bare the devastating impact of recent industry challenges compounded by years of insecure employment practices and poor conditions across much of the sector.

“And on top of this, many TV workers face entrenched discrimination, bullying and harassment, propped up by huge power imbalances and a lack of independent and robust reporting mechanisms."

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport was contacted for comment.

The findings were revealed during the Edinburgh TV Festival this week.