ABC staff believe on-air disruption and "painful" job losses are inevitable after the Morrison government’s return to power on Saturday.

"It's very grim in here this morning," said one manager. "All the fat has already been trimmed [in previous budget reductions]. We can't see how this won't lead to job losses or programming changes."

Some insiders claim ABC's news and current affairs division will be protected from the cuts, but others dispute this.

"Every department could feel the squeeze … including drama, comedy, children's, radio, iview, you name it," said one person. "All that's left to cut is content. This could be the first time the audience sees this level of cuts to our programming."