The Sky Group, the Comcast-owned British telecommunications giant, has pledged to reach 20 percent of its workforce to be black, Asian, or other minorities by the year 2025.
The satellite, pay-TV, broadband, and broadcasting group says that by the target date, its facilities in the U.K. and Ireland will have hired the promised number of minorities, at least a quarter of them being black and that the new hiring practice will also apply to leadership positions.
The company claimed that the target number reflects the diversity of the communities in which their facilities are situated as revealed by its demographic research into the regions, according to MSN.com.
“Last year, we said Sky could, and should, do more to improve diversity and inclusion in our own business and to support the fight against racial injustice. Over the last few months, we’ve been listening to all our colleagues, and today we’re making some ambitious commitments around representation at Sky,” Stephen van Rooyen, Sky’s executive VP and CEO for U.K. and Europe, said in a statement this week. “There is clear evidence that businesses with greater cultural and ethnic diversity perform better. Getting this right will enable us to make better business decisions; develop better content onscreen, see more innovation off-screen and improve diversity and inclusion across the industry.”
The Comcast subsidiary’s move comes about six months after Comcast announced the expenditure of $100 million on “social justice” programs to fight racial inequality.
In a June memo to employees, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said $75 million in cash and $25 million in media was to be part of a multiyear program targeting social injustice, Deadline reported at the time.
“Together we are facing a painful yet powerful moment – one that presents us with a renewed opportunity to do better and to create substantive and sustainable change,” Roberts said.
One of the telecom giant’s moves to satisfy left-wing activists last year included putting trigger warnings on shows including Disney’s Aladdin to warn viewers that the movie may contain “outdated attitudes” may “cause offense today.”
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