Energy giant SSE has confirmed it is to cut jobs at its Carse of Gowrie depot in yet another blow for the community.
Residents are said to have been left reeling by last month’s decision by Lloyds Bank of Scotland to cut hundreds of posts in Dundee.
The firm has declined to confirm the exact nature of the losses, saying simply that “a small number of staff” would be “impacted” by changes.
Now it is understood that up to fifteen positions will disappear at SSE’s Errol depot – around a third of the workforce there.
The changes follow what insiders say has been a period of instability and finances losses at the office, which employs around 60 people.
There is said to have been significant staff turnover in recent times, with as many as two thirds of positions having changed hands over the past three years.
It is also understood that the manager of the Errol office is to step down from his post.
A spokesperson for SSE said: “We can confirm that a small number of employees at the Errol depot will be impacted by recent structural changes.”
Carse of Gowrie Labour Councillor Alasdair Bailey said the news was especially worrying in the wake of Lloyds Banking Group’s decision last month to cut 252 jobs in Dundee.
“I was disappointed to hear about this loss of employment in the Carse,” he said.
“That is especially true following the recent losses of banking jobs in Dundee, which have also impacted residents here.
“My thoughts are with all the families involved.
“As a council we need to continue to support businesses in growing employment locally.”
In recent years the SSE workforce has expanded and contracted with some regularity as it has reshaped its business offering and responded to national and world trading factors.
In 2013, an end to “cold calling” saw 100 call centre jobs cut in Perth.
The following year, SSE announced around 150 job losses – most achieved through voluntary redundancy – at its Inveralmond House headquarters in Perth in a bid to offset the freezing of household energy prices.
In 2016, it was retail jobs that were affected as the company announced it was to close the country’s remaining 37 Scottish Hydro Electric shops.
Nonetheless, there have been significant recruitment drives at the Perth HQ – where there are in the region of 2,000 staff – and elsewhere during the same period.
The firm remains one of the city’s most important employers.
