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Comcast-owned Brit telco Sky to hire 1,000 new staffers, half of them engineers

Bumps up engineer total for UK & Ireland to 4k - but is that enough?

Sky's broadband and TV arm will hire 1,000 new staff members, half of whom will be engineers.

The hires will bump Sky's UK and Ireland employee base to 25,000. The telco currently employs 3,500 engineers to service its circa 13 million customers across the region (PDF page 14).

The business will also open a customer contact centre in Leeds, staffed by 500 customer service bods. Its agents will field complaints across Sky products via call, text, the MySky app chat and Facebook messenger chats, said the company in a statement.

In its annual results for fiscal 2018/19 (PDF) ended 30 June - just before the Comcast acquisition - Sky reported an increase of revenue of 5 per cent to £13.6bn.

Revenue in the UK rose 4 per cent to £8.9bn, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 9 per cent to £1.9bn.

Last year the firm signalled the end of its iconic satellite dish, with plans to make all its channels and content available online.

Commenting on the new hires, Stephen van Rooyen, UK & Ireland CEO, said: "Together with our expanded team in Leeds, these 1,000 new employees are a real testament to Sky's commitment to customer service and investment to create a diverse workforce right across the UK."

Sky tends to receive some of the fewest consumer complaints, according to Ofcom data. However, a survey earlier this year by consumer charity Which? ranked Sky and TalkTalk bottom for broadband satisfaction.

BT, Sky's main rival in the broadband and TV space, is in the process of axing 13,000 jobs from its 100,000 global workforce. However, the firm is also eager to add more engineering bods.

Openreach is in the process of hiring and training 3,500 new engineers.

But a number of experts have pointed out there is a shortage in the number of skilled engineers – particularly if the government is to meet its ambitious target of full fibre for everyone by 2025. ®

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