Sky is to cut about 1,000 jobs as customers move away from traditional satellite pay-TV to streaming-based services, in the latest round of redundancies to hit the UK media industry.
The company, which employs about 26,000 staff in the UK, is seeking to reduce its workforce by about 4% this year.
The cuts will come mainly from its army of workers that install equipment in households, with the number employed expected to be reduced by about a quarter, as more consumers make the shift to plug-and-go internet-based products such as Sky Stream and the Sky Glass smart TV.
Sky estimates that about three-quarters of new products being taken are internet-based, reducing the need for installers.
Sky’s move comes days after Channel 4 confirmed that it is to reduce its headcount by 240, the biggest round of cuts since 2008, in response to the slump in the TV ad market, which has prompted an acceleration of its plans to become a digital-first broadcaster.
While Sky is not as dependent on advertising as broadcasters such as Channel 4 and ITV, which is also widely expected to unveil a job cuts programme in the coming weeks, the company has also been affected by the downturn.
In 2018, the US media giant Comcast acquired Sky, which includes its operations in Germany and Italy, for £32bn. However, two years ago Comcast recorded an $8.6bn write-down on the Sky business over growing concern over the economic outlook as the cost of living crisis began to impact consumer spending.
In the final quarter last year, Sky reported a 13% decline in revenues to $4.42bn (£3.48bn), although this decline was significantly impacted by currency fluctuations.
“The launch of Sky Glass and Sky Stream represents a shift in our business to deliver TV over IP [an internet connection] rather than satellite,” said a Sky spokesman. “Increasingly, customers are choosing Sky Glass and Sky Stream which don’t require specialist installation, and that has led us to change the number of roles we need to deliver our services.”
Sky is not the only media and telecoms business seeking to reduce staff in its traditional business.
Last year, BT said it intends to reduce its workforce by as much as 55,000 by 2030, more than 40% of its global employee base, in large part due to the completion of the roll out of full-fibre broadband and 5G networks.
And Vodafone is in the process of cutting 11,000 jobs from its global workforce by the end of 2025, more than 10% of its 104,000 global staff, the largest round of cuts in the troubled telecoms group’s history. The company employs about 9,000 people in the UK, including at its headquarters in Berkshire.
However, Sky, which is now part of a wider group that includes film studio Universal, is still recruiting in growing parts of its business. In 2021, the company says it intends to create 2,000 new jobs at its new studio complex at Elstree.
