National Public Radio (NPR) is reducing its staff.

Now facing a deficit, the popular radio institution is introducing a purely voluntary buyout package to its employees in order to reduce its workforce by up to ten percent.

The plan, announced earlier this month, is part of a two-year plan to help NPR balance their budget.

The announcement has been depicted as what will be one of the biggest staff cut-backs in the history of NPR.

According to The New York Times, an NPR spokeswoman has said that if the voluntary measures do not work, involuntary measures will be the next step.

The announcement came just two weeks before the end of NPR’s fiscal year.

The Deficit

In its 2014 fiscal year, NPR has reported an operating deficit of $6.1 million, approximately 3% of its revenues.

The budget for NPR is reported to be $183 million with revenues only amounting to $178.1 million in fiscal 2014.

NPR has approximately 840 full-time and part-time staff.

Upper Management

Paul G. Haaga Jr. has been named to be the next acting chief and president of NPR as of September 30.

Haaga will be replacing Gary Knell, chief and president of NPR since 2011, as Knell takes up his new position as president and chief executive of the National Geographic Society.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead one of the world’s leading providers of news, music and cultural programming on an interim basis and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the board and senior leadership team to help this great organization build on its success,” Haaga said in a statement.

A board member since 2011, as well as vice chairman and chairman of the finance committee, Haaga was a natural fit for the current situation in the organization.

NPR has now appointed a search committee that is hoping to find a more permanent replacement for Knell in the following months.