About 70 Sky staff in areas such as camera work, sound production and lighting are set to be made redundant by the end of summer as part of a shakeup of the broadcaster’s Production Services division.
At an “Agility and Flexibility” meeting on Tuesday about 600 staff – two-thirds of the division – were told about the proposed changes by Production Services director Darren Long.
The division provides studio services across Sky in areas including sport and news.
A document circulated to staff on Tuesday says: “If all the proposed changes are implemented, then the overall number of roles in Studios would be reduced by 43 and the number of roles in Post Production would be reduced by 29.
“The number of redundancies would depend on how many people were deployed to other roles at Sky.”
A 45-day collective consultation process has started, to be followed by individual meetings. It is likely to take more than two months before redundancies are agreed and the process is expected to be finished by September.
The consultation process could mean fewer jobs are eventually lost, but staff are already being briefed on what redundancy packages will be on offer. The document says the broadcaster is prosing to offer anyone with more than one year’s service an “enhanced” package, but does not “envisage” accepting voluntary redundancies.
Remaining staff will see changes in working patterns such as the number of weekends they are expected to work.
Graphic design and makeup are the only areas of the division not facing job losses.
A spokesperson for broadcast union Bectu said: “Staff were disgusted that no questions were allowed at any time, either in the introductory meeting addressed by Darren Long or in any of the breakout meetings led by senior managers that followed. We would ask what it is that Sky management were afraid of that they couldn’t face questions from their own staff.
“We are also appalled to hear that some relatively junior and younger staff were in tears after the meetings. They had expected secure employment at a major media player like Sky and are now worried about the future of their young families, and issues such as how to meet mortgage commitments.”
The changes are understood to be driven in part by the broadcaster’s increasing focus on entertainment content.
However, some staff believe they are linked to the record £4.18bn Sky spent earlier this year to retain rights to broadcast Premier League football.
Sky said the changes would bring the division in line with modern working practices and improve conditions.
A Sky spokesperson said: “We’ve made proposals around how Sky Production Services operates to help meet changing demands in a fast-moving industry.
“While this is expected to mean a limited number of job reductions, it will also bring a better way of working for many. Our priority now is dialogue with our people during a period of consultation.”
