Thirty-one employees at WBUR, roughly 14 percent of the station’s staff, are leaving the company through layoffs and buyouts, according to a message that chief executive Margaret Low wrote to staff on Wednesday.
Twenty-four of those employees took a voluntary buyout that was offered last month, including four senior managers. Seven staff members, including three part-time employees, were laid off Wednesday.
The station, which has been grappling with a financial shortfall for months, is also eliminating nine open jobs, pulling back on travel expenses, and will spend less or negotiate lower rates for contract services, Low said. The station will adjust the schedule of some programming, but no shows will be eliminated.
Low added that the changes would save the station $4 million. And she added that the coming fiscal year “will be another year of deficit spending as we map a path to sustainability. Which we are doing.”
The station’s editorial union, which is part of SAG-AFTRA, said Wednesday “has been a difficult day for everyone at WBUR.”
“Our thoughts are with all of our colleagues who have been told that their job is being eliminated,” the union said in a statement. “Of course, we are disappointed that all of our jobs were not preserved through cost-saving alternatives.”
The statement noted, however, that the buyouts “helped to reduce the number of job losses and will allow laid-off colleagues to apply for open internal positions.”
The layoffs and buyouts will affect departments across the station, a spokesperson said. The four senior managers that took buyouts are executive director of business partnerships Pete Matthews, senior director of finance Del Reese, director of membership and campaign strategy Mike Steffon, and executive director of engineering, operations and IT Karl Voelker.
The decision to lay off staff comes two months after WBUR chief executive Margaret Low first informed staff that the station was facing financial challenges. In a letter last month, Low told donors that on-air sponsorship at WBUR fell by 40 percent over the past five years. WBUR last laid off staff in a 2020 round of cuts that eliminated about 10 percent of its work force.
In late March, WBUR offered employee buyouts in an effort to cut 10 percent of its budget but warned staff that the station still expected to lay off some employees.
The union said on Wednesday that it had offered alternatives to job cuts, including pay cuts and furloughs, but that WBUR management decided to proceed with layoffs.
“We again offered to discuss alternatives, like furloughs and foregoing raises, but were told on Monday that those alternatives would not change their decision to lay off staff,” the union said in its statement.
The challenges at WBUR, whose broadcast license is owned by Boston University, are not unique to the station. Public radio stations across the country have reported financial challenges and cut staff due to a decline in advertising and rising costs.
WBUR is also not alone in Boston. GBH — a public media organization that encompasses 89.7 GBH, a television station, PBS programming, and more — warned employees of potential layoffs last month as it faces a budget deficit. Its revenue has remained stable in recent years, but costs have increased.
The challenges at both stations have prompted questions about whether Boston can continue to support two NPR news stations that focus on news, which is uncommon even in many of the country’s large cities.
Aidan Ryan can be reached at aidan.ryan@globe.com. Follow him @aidanfitzryan.