Ovo Energy to cut 2,600 jobs following SSE deal
The UK’s second largest energy supplier, Ovo Energy, is planning to cut 2,600 jobs following its merger with SSE, blaming coronavirus for some of the cuts.
Ovo, which closed a £500m deal for SSE’s retail arm this year, said the coronavirus pandemic had accelerated its integration plans for the businesses.
“We are seeing a rapid increase in customers using digital channels to engage with us … we are expecting a permanent reduction in demand for some roles, whilst other field-based roles are also heavily affected,” OVO chief executive Stephen Fitzpatrick said..
The job losses would affect positions across both the SSE Energy Services and OVO Energy brands and would largely be achieved through voluntary redundancies over 2020, OVO said.
OVO said it had been engaging with trade unions and had agreed not to proceed with moving some roles offshore.
The GMB trade union criticised the company which has used the government’s job retention scheme to protect workers during the coronavirus pandemic, furloughing 3,600 employees.
“GMB says companies who take government money from the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) should be prevented from making redundancies for at least a year,” the union said in a statement.
Unite’s national officer for energy and utilities Peter McIntosh said: “This is devastating news for the loyal and dedicated workforce who have continued to provide emergency and essential services to customers throughout the Covid-19 crisis
“We will be pressing the company to explain why it is not continuing to take advantage of the government’s JRS which was specifically designed to deal with potential job losses caused by the coronavirus crisis.”