Wood Group reveals 80 North Sea oil jobs at risk

HUNDREDS of employees in the oil industry are to consulted about potential job losses, with up to 80 posts set to be cut in a fresh blow to the sector.

A consultation will be held with 380 workers. Picture: PA

The Wood Group, which was founded by oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood, announced that a number of jobs were at risk in the Aberdeen-based company.

A consultation will now be held with 380 workers in the onshore part of the business, although the company confirmed that no more than 80 jobs were at risk.

The Wood group said that the firm had to “respond to market challenges”, which comes after a crisis for the industry caused by the sharp decline in oil prices.

A company spokeswoman said that a 30 day consultation would be launched next month, although it is not yet clear whether there will be any compulsory redundancies.

The Wood Group said: “We constantly respond to market challenges. Wood Group is continuing to take a number of steps to help customers increase operating efficiency, safely improve performance from oil and gas assets and reduce their costs.

“All changes made and proposed are done so in consultation with employees and their health and welfare is our top priority. We continue to review our resource requirements to meet our customer needs and service provision to ensure that we are focused on sustaining the business for the long-term.”

However, Labour MSP Richard Baker said potential job losses were “extremely concerning” as he repeated his party’s call for a resilience fund to help areas suffering economic shocks, such as job losses.