Post by Teddy Bear on Jun 5, 2011 9:18:54 GMT
One would think that if a company is going to pay £233,000 a year to an executive then they would make sure they had the necessary qualifications for the job before hiring them. At least any company that had to justify its expenses instead of milking its income without regard to the people paying for it.
What's even more ironic is that here the BBC is paying $40,000 to send this executive on a course designed to make him better at defending the cuts made by the corporation - at least that's what they claim. I wonder how he's going to defend the BBC decision to spend over £1bn on new studios in Salford that nobody wants to move to, and in fact are bringing some of the programmes that were intended to be broadcast there back to London.
Doesn't sound like a cut to me. If there's one example where this intended pun might be used freely it's in applying it to the BBC notion of what cuts are meant to mean.
What's even more ironic is that here the BBC is paying $40,000 to send this executive on a course designed to make him better at defending the cuts made by the corporation - at least that's what they claim. I wonder how he's going to defend the BBC decision to spend over £1bn on new studios in Salford that nobody wants to move to, and in fact are bringing some of the programmes that were intended to be broadcast there back to London.
Doesn't sound like a cut to me. If there's one example where this intended pun might be used freely it's in applying it to the BBC notion of what cuts are meant to mean.
BBC pays £40k for Harvard course for executive who must defend vast cuts
The BBC has spent more than £40,000 to send one of its best-paid executives on a summer course at Harvard University.
Ed Williams, BBC Head of Corporate Communications, has been away from his job in London for two months studying ‘advanced management’ at Harvard Business School in Boston.
Critics, including BBC staff, have attacked the expense at a time when the BBC faces devastating cuts following the decision to freeze its licence fee.
Mr Williams, 38, earns £233,000 a year and is one of the highest-paid employees at the BBC and across the public sector.
He will have to defend cuts of up to £150 million in his role as director of communications when cost-saving plans are unveiled later this summer.
An executive who has been on the Harvard course last night questioned why Mr Williams had been sent on a programme designed for business leaders.
The source said: ‘It is difficult to see the fit between his job and the course. It does seem a bit tangential.’
Students on the Harvard programme enjoy ‘luxury hotel’ standards in a mock Georgian hall of residence, McArthur Hall, which has stunning views of Boston’s Charles River.
A BBC spokesman insisted the course was suitable for Mr Williams, saying: ‘Ed is attending it in his capacity as director of a key department and a strategic adviser to the Board.’
The BBC has spent more than £40,000 to send one of its best-paid executives on a summer course at Harvard University.
Ed Williams, BBC Head of Corporate Communications, has been away from his job in London for two months studying ‘advanced management’ at Harvard Business School in Boston.
Critics, including BBC staff, have attacked the expense at a time when the BBC faces devastating cuts following the decision to freeze its licence fee.
Mr Williams, 38, earns £233,000 a year and is one of the highest-paid employees at the BBC and across the public sector.
He will have to defend cuts of up to £150 million in his role as director of communications when cost-saving plans are unveiled later this summer.
An executive who has been on the Harvard course last night questioned why Mr Williams had been sent on a programme designed for business leaders.
The source said: ‘It is difficult to see the fit between his job and the course. It does seem a bit tangential.’
Students on the Harvard programme enjoy ‘luxury hotel’ standards in a mock Georgian hall of residence, McArthur Hall, which has stunning views of Boston’s Charles River.
A BBC spokesman insisted the course was suitable for Mr Williams, saying: ‘Ed is attending it in his capacity as director of a key department and a strategic adviser to the Board.’