Engineering firm Subsea 7 to cut up to 410 UK jobs

A global subsea engineering firm, which employs about 1,800 people in Aberdeen, has announced plans to cut up to 410 UK jobs by the end of the year.

Subsea 7 said proposed redundancies would affect staff and contractors at offices and sites in Aberdeen and the firm's London headquarters.

The company employs 13,000 people in 25 countries and plans to cut 2,500 jobs from its total workforce.

The decision comes as part of a cost reduction programme.

The company said the move was "regrettable but sadly unavoidable" as it seeks to reduce its costs, following the drop in oil prices.

A spokesperson said it was not possible to say how many jobs will go from its UK sites, where it employs about 2,400 people - including 1,800 workers in Aberdeen and 80 in London.

However, 270 of the axed positions are thought to be onshore staff posts.

The company is reviewing costs across the business, starting with the North Sea announcements today.

'Deteriorating market'

In Norway, 190 staff have been informed that their jobs are to go. The company had already cut 100 of their Norwegian workforce in September last year.

The company said this was as a result of overcapacity in their Norway-based workforce, following "a deteriorating market situation, with further delays in the sanctioning of future projects and in completing the final phases of key projects".

The oilfield operator specialising in seabed installations, pipelines and connections also plans to make cuts in other areas, including reducing its fleet of 39 ships by 11.

In a statement the company said a formal collective consultation would now begin, with "every effort made to limit the number of compulsory redundancies".

Subsea 7 vice president for the UK and Canada, Phil Simons, said: "These proposed redundancies follow a continued trend of project delays and cancellations witnessed across the UK's oil and gas industry that have impacted our activity levels, making it necessary to size our business base to align with our workload as well as consolidate various functions across the UK.

"As we look ahead we need to retain sufficient capacity to execute existing work and win new awards, while maintaining our core expertise in preparation for when the activity levels pick up again.

"In the meantime, we remain committed to implementing the necessary cost reduction measures and efficiency improvements to protect our business through the downturn."