Scottish Power to lay off 450 employees |
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Published
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Fri, 07 Oct 2005 13:20
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Glasgow based energy firm has announced that 450 employees would be asked to leave. This move comes following the company’s sale US division PacifiCorp in May. 270 jobs will be cut in Scotland in the first phase. The remaining staff will be removed in phase manner over a period of 18 months. They will be mostly across Britain. The company, however, maintained that its frontline staff would not be touched.
Scottish power expects to save 60 million pounds a year after the downsizing. Dave Watson of Unison Union member made no secret of his resentment over the company’s retrenchment, when he said he was “very concerned”. He said, "Clearly we are very concerned about the announcement and we need some explanation about how these job cuts fit in with the recent sale of Scottish Power's business in the United States."
A press release from Scottish Power defended its decision. It said, “We need to lower our costs to provide a viable and profitable company in the future.”
Earlier in August, Scottish Power asked four executives to leave. The company with an employee base of 8,000 world-over had created 1,200 jobs in retail support only one and half years back.
The first targets will be 120 employees working at Cathcart business park in Glasgow followed by another 90 employees in Bellshill.
The company had only recently announced its decision to hike electricity prices between 5 to 8 percent. The company in a bid to explain its position attributed the power price hike to wholesale energy costs which had increased by nearly 70 percent since April 2004.
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