Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Collective redundancyLatest NewsJob creation and lossesPay settlementsRedundancy

Ovo Energy expected to make a quarter of staff redundant

by Personnel Today 13 Jan 2022
by Personnel Today 13 Jan 2022 Alex Yeung/Shutterstock
Alex Yeung/Shutterstock

Ovo Energy, the UK’s third biggest supplier of gas and electricity, is expected to cut a quarter of its workforce while raising minimum pay for staff who remain.

The company, which employs around 6,200 people, is expected to reduce headcount by 1,700 as part of a voluntary redundancy scheme, as well as announce plans to “reshore” all customer-facing jobs to the UK.

The plans, which were first reported by Sky News and are likely to be announced today, also include a proposal to raise minimum pay across the company to £12 an hour.

Ovo Energy declined to comment on the redundancies.

The news comes as the company was forced to apologise this week after advising customers to cuddle their pets, eat porridge or do star jumps in order to keep their heating bills low.

Redundancy

Post-furlough redundancy surge has not happened

Redundancy: the value of an offboarding plan

Founder Steven Fitzpatrick blamed a “bad day” for the “embarrassing” advice being sent to customers.

Like many energy suppliers, Ovo – which is part of SSE – is facing rapidly rising wholesale costs. Gas market prices last month reached an all-time high of £4.50 per therm, about nine times higher than this time last year.

In 2021 more than 30 UK energy firms went bust, costing hundreds of jobs.

Unite has warned that more jobs losses in the sector and other industries might come, as as energy price rises hit organisations’ costs.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our intelligence suggests that if the government does not intervene in the energy crisis then tens of thousands of jobs could go before the summer.

“Just how long is the government going to be a spectator in this coming jobs crisis? We need the government to intervene with a support programme to save jobs for the industry, and we need it now. We refuse to let workers carry the can for a crisis which is not of their making.”

The union called on the government to introduce an emergency jobs protection scheme for the energy sector, including short-time working programmes similar to Germany’s Kurzarbeit programme.

Unite’s national officer for energy, Simon Coop, said: “It is time for a national jobs protection programme to prevent a jobs catastrophe. The UK needs a short-time working scheme like other countries have. Of course, in the long term, the UK must create a balanced energy policy which, includes wind, solar, hydro, gas, clean coal and nuclear to lower energy bills in the future for all. But in this current crisis we need a significant financial package to fund a job protection scheme.”

Utilities sector HR roles on Personnel Today


Browse more HR roles in the utilities sector

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Kelly Metcalf: Top five predictions for diversity, inclusion and wellbeing in 2022
next post
Ursula von der Leyen to press for EU-wide female board quotas

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Number of planned redundancies in UK falls by...

22 Jul 2022

Case involving Citi banker who was called ‘old’...

14 Jul 2022

Royal Mail managers vote to strike over restructure

30 Jun 2022

How HR can mitigate the risks and reap...

10 Jun 2022

Top 10 HR questions May 2022: Bank holidays

1 Jun 2022

P&O Ferries boss denies reputational damage after mass...

27 May 2022

Maternity leave: Cost of living crisis highlights need...

25 May 2022

Tube strike on 6 June to see 4,000...

24 May 2022

Prime minister steps up calls for 90,000 civil...

13 May 2022

Queen’s Speech: absence of employment bill leaves organisations...

10 May 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+