Bosses at one of West Lothian largest employers are being urged to find new roles for their staff amid a round of redundancies that could see around 200 jobs lost.
We reported last month that Sky had entered into consultation with finance staff at its Watermark building in Livingston as their jobs are being outsourced to India.
The Courier understands around 200 roles are at risk among finance and also customer service teams. The company employs 4000 workers at its base in Livingston.
Hannah Bardell, MP recently met with Sky bosses to raise her concerns about their current proposals to make staff redundant at the centre, located in Kirkton Campus and pressed them to redeploy workers where possible.
She said: “This will understandably be a very worrying time for many staff at Sky in my constituency of Livingston. My first thought is for them and their families.
“While the consultation process is underway, I will look to do whatever I possibly can to ensure as many jobs are retained locally. I have written to the Scottish and UK Business Secretaries to explore what assistance they can provide and have agreed to continue to work with Sky to ensure my constituents receive all the support they need.”
She continued: “Sky is one of the largest private employers in my constituency. Those jobs and the opportunity and employment they provide are crucial. I have held constructive talks with Sky about their decision to start consultation over proposed job losses across their customer service and finance teams.
“I am aware that Sky – like many other businesses across the UK – are experiencing significant cost pressures and that this decision while regrettable is taken against this backdrop.
“Sky have assured me that they will look to redeploy staff wherever they possibly can and have committed to working with the Scottish Government, including Scottish Enterprise, to support their staff.”
Staff were made aware that their roles are in danger at the Livingston Watermark shared service centre. This comes as Sky has announced that activities undertaken by its Shared Services division will be delivered by a new supplier, outsourcing giant Accenture.
This means the work will instead be outsourced and delivered from Bangalore, India, in a bid to cut costs.
A Sky Spokesperson said he couldn’t confirm the number of roles under threat as the consultation process had begun, but said: “Sky’s business has changed significantly over the past few years as we’ve launched new products and services.
“In parallel, we are facing into the same macroeconomic challenges as individuals and businesses across the UK. As a result, we are making proposals to reshape some areas of our business.
“We now go into a period of consultation to discuss the proposed changes with our people. We are unable to provide more detail while these consultations are under way.”
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