1000 new jobs to be created by Sky

While the high street falters, with Mothercare the latest in a long line of store closures, there is good news on the job front in the media industry as Sky announces a recruitment drive.

“Our customers love viewing all their favourite shows in one place with Sky Q, so it’s great that 500 new Sky engineers will be hitting the roads right across the UK this winter to meet growing customer demand. 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.” – Stephen van Rooyen, CEO, UK & Ireland, Sky

Sky has created 1,000 new jobs throughout the UK, including opening a new customer contact centre in Leeds, to meet growing customer demand. The creation of new roles will see Sky’s UK and Ireland employee base grow to 25,000 employees – an increase of nearly 5%.

As part of the move, Sky will directly employ 500 new engineers to install Sky Q, Sky’s next-generation TV platform, into thousands of customer’s homes over the coming months.

Sky Q brings together TV and entertainment all in one place, with customers able to watch the best shows from HBO, Showtime and Netflix, alongside Sky originals like Chernobyl, Catherine the Great and Brassic. ‘With voice-control, Spotify, live sport and entertainment as well as over 500 box sets in HD, Sky Q is the home of entertainment.’ the company state.

Sky already employs 3,500 engineers across the UK with the new permanent positions currently recruiting all over the UK. The company this week announced an investment boost in Leeds. In addition to Sky’s new team of engineers, Sky is also creating 500 new customer service roles at its new contact centre at No 1 Leeds in the city centre.

The soon to be recruited customer service agents will support customers across a range of Sky products and services including Sky Broadband, Sky Mobile and Sky TV. The new contact centre will be set up to support Sky customers however they choose to contact Sky, including call, text, chat via the MySky app or even via Facebook messenger.

Over 1,000 people already work for Sky in Leeds, making it one of the city’s biggest employers. The majority of Sky’s Leeds-based staff currently work on Sky’s digital and technical capability out of Sky@Leeds Dock – Sky’s tech hub that opened in the city in 2015.

Last month, Sky also announced the creation of a new Sky Studios Innovation Hub based in Leeds and focussed on the development of talent, scripted partnerships and new content experiences. Over the next five years Sky will more than double its investment in original content through Sky Studios. Leeds is now also home to one of Channel 4’s major HQ’s and has been, since 1968, the home of ITV Yorkshire, who have produced from the city some of ITV’s biggest shows including currently soap opera Emmerdale.

“On average, Sky has been the best performing major pay TV, broadband and landline provider over the past three years according to Ofcom complaints data.” – Sky