Sky launches nationwide training scheme to help 1,000 women into engineering.

Sky has today announced the launch of ‘Women in Home Service’, a paid training programme for female engineers that will offer career and development opportunities for up to 1,000 women interested in a becoming an engineer at Sky. 

There are currently less women working in engineering in the UK than anywhere else in Europe [1] with lack of skills and experience being a significant barrier to women pursuing a career in the field. At present, just 2% of the engineering workforce at Sky are female. However, we’re committed to creating an inclusive culture right across our business and over the next two years we aim to increase representation of female engineers to 20%.

Over £2 million will be invested in the programme which will provide hands on and classroom based learning. The focus will be on providing the necessary skills to become an engineer at Sky, plus provide training on workplace confidence, along with customer service and sales skills. At the end of the course each woman will receive a City and Guilds qualification.

Each of the women taking part in the scheme will have their own mentor throughout the programme, who themselves will receive specialist training on how best to give the right level of support and advice.

Chris Stylianou, Chief Operating Officer commented: ‘Engineering is an industry that has long seen underrepresentation of women. That is an issue for society and one that we at Sky have a responsibility to address. It is important that our Home Service engineers are as diverse and inclusive as the customers and communities they serve and that’s why we’re focussing our efforts on increasing the number of female engineers at Sky over the next two years.”

The launch of this programme is part of Sky’s wider inclusion commitments to address gender imbalance within the business. For example through our wider ‘Women in Tech’ scheme we run a number of initiatives aimed at increasing the number of women in science and technology roles. These initiatives include our Software Academy where 47% of the intake last year was female. We also run an award winning initiative called Get into Tech which provides women the chance to take a free course that will teach them essential coding skills. In the first year since launch over 600 women have applied for the scheme .

You can find out more about the Women in Home Service scheme by clicking here.

Contact:

Jenna Brown

Jenna.brown@sky.uk

07989 428426

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 23 million customers across seven countries - UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The company had annual reported revenues of £12.9 billion in 2016/17, and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with an annual programming spend of around £7 billion.

From exclusive partnerships with HBO, Showtime and Warner Bros. to Sky Original Productions, Sky offers the best and broadest range of content along with the best viewing experience to suit each and every customer. Whether that’s through the multi-award winning next generation box, Sky Q, or Sky’s contract-free online streaming service, NOW TV, customers have access to the latest movies, drama, sports and kids entertainment wherever and whenever they like. This is all supported by Sky’s best in class customer service.

Sky’s success is not just based on what the company does but how it does it. Three new major commitments have been launched for Sky’s corporate campaign Sky Ocean Rescue; the reduction of our own single-use plastics by 2020; an investment fund of £25 million over five years in technology solutions; and support of marine protected areas across our markets.

Sky has over 31,000 employees and is listed as one of The Times Top 50 employers for women, as well as being recognised in the Stonewall list of Top 50 LGBT-inclusive employers. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).