LONDON (UPI) -- The BBC is preparing to lay off more than 2,000 employees, roughly 12 percent of its workforce, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

The total of job losses will have to be approved by the BBC Trust and could approach 2,800.

The BBC employs 23,000 people, of whom 18,000 work in its core public service broadcasting activities rather than BBC Worldwide or the World Service, The Times said.

The company's factual programming division, which oversees shows like "Planet Earth," "Panorama," "Top Gear" and "Kill It, Cook It, Eat It," is understood to be particularly hard hit by the proposed cuts.

Mark Thompson, the corporation's director-general, is seeking cuts amounting to 6 percent of its $6 billion-plus annual budget during each of the next five years.

A below-inflation license fee settlement in January left him $4 billion short of the funds he had sought for the period.

BBC executives are believed to have fought pressure to close services and opted instead for cuts within existing services.

This is the second major round of BBC job cuts in less than three years.

About 3,780 staff were cut in 2005.