UK-based media and telecommunications giant Sky has announced plans to cut approximately 2,000 jobs or 7 percent of its workforce as the company intensifies efforts to automate customer service functions and shift towards digital-first engagement strategies.
The restructuring will see Sky close three of its ten customer service centres—located in Stockport, Sheffield, and Leeds—while scaling down operations at two other sites.
The decision is part of a broader organisational pivot toward online support tools and AI-driven platforms, in response to evolving consumer expectations and the need to enhance operational efficiency.
Sky, which is owned by U.S. media conglomerate Comcast, stated that the job cuts are not connected to recent UK budget measures or rising labour costs, but are instead rooted in the company’s long-term transformation agenda.
According to company executives, the shift is driven by customers’ growing preference for 24/7 support and faster digital solutions to routine service queries.
While technical issues will still be handled by human advisers, the majority of standard interactions—including billing, contract management, and service updates—are expected to be fully digitised in the near future.
Sky projects that annual customer service call volumes will decline from 25 million to 17 million by 2029, as more users embrace self-service options through the Sky app, live chat, and other online tools.
In a bid to strengthen its future capabilities, Sky revealed plans to invest multi-millions of pounds in a new Customer Service Centre of Excellence in Scotland.
This hub will integrate AI technologies capable of proactively detecting and resolving issues, enhancing user experience while minimising human intervention.
Part of the company’s digital transformation also involves relocating some support functions outside the UK to provide round-the-clock services in varied time zones.
“Sky is transforming its operations to provide quicker, simpler, and more digital customer support,” the company said in a statement. “Customers want the flexibility to manage everyday services digitally while still having access to expert support when it matters most.”
Despite the workforce reduction, Sky reaffirmed its commitment to service quality, noting that it remains the least complained-about telecoms provider in the UK for over a decade, according to data from Ofcom.
The company previously cut approximately 1,000 roles in 2023, primarily affecting field engineers and legacy service departments. With the latest round of restructuring, Sky is positioning itself to lead in a rapidly changing media and telecoms landscape where digital delivery and automation are becoming industry standards.
As pressure mounts across the global communications sector to balance cost control with innovation, Sky’s latest move underscores a broader industry trend: the increasing replacement of human-intensive roles with technology that offers scalability, precision, and lower overhead.
