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About 2,000 jobs will be cut at Sky as it replaces more of its customer call centre positions with online and artificial intelligence.
Three of Sky’s UK call centres, in Stockport, Sheffield and Leeds, will be closed and another two, in Newcastle and Dunfermline, will be cut back. The move could reduce its workforce by about 7 per cent.
Staff were informed of the changes, which will be subject to consultation, on Thursday morning.
It comes after Sky canvassed 10,000 customers, who said they wanted flexibility in how they contacted the company, with the majority of people preferring digital tools for day-to-day tasks such as paying a bill or managing a contract. Customers will still be able to speak to a person to help resolve technical issues.
About 70 per cent of customers said being able to reach the company 24/7, via either phone, email, live chat and apps, was important.
The British media and telecommunications company, which was acquired by Comcast, the American conglomerate, for £30.6 billion in 2018, expects the number of calls taken by its contact centres to drop from 25 million each year to about 17 million by 2029.
It plans to invest in “advanced digital services” to “match and surpass” phone contact services as well as a “state of the art” campus in Livingstone, Scotland, for a “centre of excellence” for customer service.
The job cuts were first reported by the Financial Times.
A spokesman for Sky said: “We’re transforming our business to deliver quicker, simpler, and more digital customer service. Our customers increasingly want choice, to speak to us on the phone when they need us most and the ease of managing everyday tasks digitally.
“We’re investing in a new centre of excellence for customer service, alongside cutting-edge digital technology to make our service seamless, reliable, and available 24/7. This is about building a future-ready Sky that continues to put our customers and their needs first.”
In January Sky cut 1,000 jobs amid the shift from satellite broadcasting to digital viewing, which predominantly impacted engineering roles.