Sky cuts hundreds of shift jobs from satellite TV

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Sky is set to cut hundreds of jobs across the UK as part of a strategic shift from satellite broadcasting to internet television provision.

The move follows dramatic job losses at broadband rivals like BT, which this month said up to 55,000 jobs, or 42 per cent of its workforce, would be cut by the end of the decade as part of cost reduction efforts. Vodafone also announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs over the next three years under new chief executive Margherita Della Valle.

Sky it informed most of the staff affected by the restructuring plans this week of its decision, although the exact number of job losses will depend on the outcome of consultations with unions and employees.

The cuts will affect some workers hired through third party suppliers, including around 200 jobs in Northern Ireland.

People familiar with the staff talks said the job losses would not be as extensive as those planned by rivals, but added that the numbers could be in the “hundreds”. Sky employs around 32,000 people in the UK.

The media and telecommunications group will redeploy or hire new staff in growing areas of its business, including film production, the people said. Sky Studios Elstree, a new film and television studio, is set to open this year and is expected to create 2,000 jobs.

According to people familiar with the plans, the job losses were expected to be concentrated in the more traditional areas of Sky’s business.

Fewer engineers would be needed to retrofit satellite dishes as more people chose to watch TV over broadband. Some customer service roles in legacy areas were also expected to change.

Since being bought by Comcast in 2018 for £32bn, Sky has diversified away from satellite TV in areas such as streaming – bundling services like Netflix with its own channels – and the manufacture and sale of smart TVs.

Streaming TV has also enabled Sky to offer consumers different ways to watch. This month it struck a £935m deal with the English Football League to stream more than 1,000 games a season both on TV and through a new streaming app.

Since its acquisition of Sky, Comcast has had to write the value of the business on its books, with many media analysts considering the acquisition price too steep for a company facing competition from large technology groups and national telecom rivals and broadcasts.

Sky was also considering what to do with its loss-making German business, according to people familiar with the situation, with one option being a sale or merger with German group ProSiebenSat. 1 Medium. Talks have not been advanced on such a deal, they added.

Sky said: “Over the last few years we’ve revolutionized our TV offering, aggregating all the best apps, giving customers easy access to all the shows they love in one place; therefore launching our new TV platforms, Sky Glass and Sky Stream, as we move into IP. These changes are transforming what we offer to our customers.”