BBC Director General Mark Thompson has announced 2,900 job cuts and savings of some $600 million a year as part of a "transformation" of the corporation.

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Most of the cuts -- around 2,500 -- will be made in non-program-making departments, while 400 will come in the factual and learning departments, the BBC reported. The cuts will be phased in over three years.

Other departments will also have to make savings of around 15 percent, said Thompson, and further redundancies will likely be announced in the new year.

"This will be a time of considerable pain and disruption for all of us, especially for those who end up leaving us," Thompson said. However he said the BBC must "spend less on process and more on content."

He emphasized his commitment not only to the BBC but to the public, who pay licence fees that fund the BBC and to whom the corporation must be accountable.

Thompson also announced the creation of a "state of the art" media center in Manchester, as part of a bid to connect with communities outside London.

The announcement came Tuesday as the BBC applied to renew its royal charter in 2007.

Union leaders have warned there could be industrial action over the job losses.