Sky gives employees £1,000 cost-of-living payment
Stephen van Rooyen, Executive Vice President & CEO, Sky UK and Europe
More than two-thirds of Sky staff will receive the one-off top up.
The Sky’s not the limit for workers at the telecommunications giant. The broadcaster is among those companies who’ve rallied round during the cost-of-living crisis, having awarded 70% of its UK and Ireland workforce a one-off payment of £1,000 to help ease the pressure.
The payment is to be made in two instalments – in October and January 2023, amounting to a total investment of £20m. (Irish-based employees will receive an equivalent sum in the form of euros.) Said a Sky spokesman, “This is just one step we are taking to support our employees. We are also providing our people with access to hundreds of discounts on everyday items like groceries, clothes and electricals. These savings make a material difference to our people and we know thousands are already making everyday savings through the programme.”
The broadcast industry is certainly not immune to the cost-of-living crisis. John McVay, CEO of Pact, the UK’s leading Trade Association for Film, TV, Animation, Children’s and Digital production companies, has urged broadcasters to help indie filmmakers with rising costs. In the face of production costs that have increased by as much as 30%, he said: “We need a sensible discussion around navigating these [spiralling] costs.”
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and the Paramount-owned Channel 5 recently told Deadline that they’re taking a “flexible approach to production budgets”; like Sky, ITV has also awarded bonuses to staff. “We are very conscious of rising production costs driven by a number of factors,” a spokesperson said. “No two shows are affected in exactly the same way and so this is something that we discuss with producers on a show by show basis.”
Meanwhile, Channel 4 commented, “With indies across the UK facing an increasing pressures on their businesses due to rising production costs and talent shortages we are fully committed to working closely with our partners during these challenging times… this year (2022) our overall content budget increased by more than £50m and we will continue to support the industry in the best way we can – by commissioning brilliant content from indies right across the UK.”
Sky’s actions have come in the wake of numerous other companies helping their workforce with similar initiatives.
Both M&S and Sainsbury’s have announced their first ever autumn pay reviews for staff. A £15m support package by M&S will see the hourly pay for more than 40,000 employees increase next month to a minimum of £10.20. Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has also announced a £20 million investment in pay increases for hourly paid employees, as part of a £25 million cost of living support package.
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) will provide a £500 one-off payment to full-time workers, with a pro-rata amount for those working part-time. JLP, which owns the John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, is also increasing by 4% the entry level pay for employees. It had previously announced that will provide free food to staff (known as ‘partners’) and temporary workers to help them cope with the cost of living crisis.
Frozen-food chain Iceland has rolled out a scheme to offer customers interest-free loans to help them through the cost-of-living crisis.