Sky puts 900 roles at risk in shake-up to compete with US streaming services

Sky has put 900 roles at risk as the broadcaster continues to reshape its business in the streaming era.

The company, which employs about 23,000 staff in the UK, expects the consultation process to result in about 600 roles being cut, with 300 redeployed.

The latest round of cuts – the third in a little over 18 months – follows a series of product launches including the second iteration of the Sky Glass smart TV and budget-friendly Sky Glass Air.

The Comcast-owned broadcaster is focused on improving existing services, and the cuts will hit Sky’s technology and product teams and related corporate functions.

Sky has cut almost 3,500 roles since the beginning of last year as the broadcaster looks to move away from traditional satellite pay-TV to streaming-based services in the fight against US giants such as Netflix.

The latest round of cuts brings Sky UK’s employee base back down to roughly the 23,000 level at which it stood in 2018, when Comcast acquired the business for £31bn.

Sky estimates that more than 90% of new subscriptions are via internet-based products such as Sky Glass and Sky Stream, a new streaming set-top box.

“Over the past few years, Sky has launched a set of market-leading products including Sky Glass, Sky Stream and our full fibre broadband service,” said a Sky spokesperson. “These products are now firmly established and used by millions of customers, strengthening Sky’s reputation for innovation and great service.

“As we look ahead, we are shifting our approach to bring customers the next generation of experience by investing in digital-first service, unbeatable content, and even better performance from our products, powered by the best of global innovation.”

In March, Sky moved to cut 2,000 jobs at its customer service centres and closed three sites.

The company said the closures would make it “future-ready” as it shifted from dealing with customers over the phone to digital communications.

Last January, Sky cut about 800 jobs, mainly from its army of workers that install equipment in households, as consumers stop taking traditional pay-TV equipment and shift to “plug-and-go” internet-based products.

Earlier this year, Sky struck a deal with Warner Bros Discovery, the owner of the film studio behind Barbie and HBO shows including Succession and The White Lotus, which led to it losing the right to exclusively broadcast programmes.

The deal will result in WBD’s HBO Max streaming service being made available via Sky.