Sky TV plans to axe 170 jobs, outsourcing to India and Philippines

Sky TV has proposed a restructure to save millions of dollars. Photo / File

Sky Television plans to lay off around 170 staff as it looks to reduce its operations and cut costs.

The proposed restructure could see 90 roles axed in its technology and content operations teams and around 80 in customer care.

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The company plans to outsource the majority of its call centre operations to the Philippines, saving it millions of dollars.

If followed through after consultation, two-thirds of Sky’s call centre would be offshore and deal with “more straightforward customer queries and subscriptions”, with plans to hire 200 call centre staff in the Philippines.

“We have identified opportunities to simplify and enhance our operations, grow our Contact Centre team to better meet the needs of our customers, and access specialist expertise in key areas rather than try to do everything ourselves,” Sky Television chief executive Sophie Moloney said in a statement provided to the stock exchange on Tuesday afternoon.

The company’s proposal, which was shared with staff today, said it could also result in some of Sky’s technology and content operations being outsourced to Indian provider Tata Consultancy Services.

The changes, if implemented in full, would generate multi-million dollar permanent savings for the company within two years, Moloney said.

“The full extent of any financial savings would not be known with any certainty until the conclusion of the consultation period and once final selection decisions are made.

“Our focus at Sky is to deliver excellent experiences for our customers, grow new revenue streams, carefully manage our costs, and maximise the value of our exceptional range of content.

“To continue to consistently achieve these things, we need better access to the right technology, capacity and capability, and we need to do this in an efficient and cost-effective way.

“We have identified opportunities to simplify and enhance our operations, grow our Contact Centre team to better meet the needs of our customers, and access specialist expertise in key areas rather than try to do everything ourselves.”

In November, Sky announced it was adopting a new dividend policy that should see fatter payouts to shareholders.

Chairman Philip Bowman told shareholders at their annual meeting that the proposed payout would increase from between 50 to 80 per cent of free cashflow in dividends, to 60 to 90 per cent.

The annual meeting also saw shareholders vote overwhelmingly in favour of a $70m capital return following Sky’s 2022 full year result.

The company had also just announced a salary review to counter the labour shortage and inflation.

“We are very mindful of the economic headwinds that we are all facing and the importance of securing key talent in these times impacted by scarcity of labour,” Moloney said last November.