Aberdeen City Council’s leader said a decision by Shell to cut 475 North Sea jobs will be a “significant blow” to the region’s economy.
It comes after the oil major said it would be reducing its headcount globally by 2,200 positions as it looks to streamline costs.
Councillor Jenny Laing said the council was continuing to take measures designed to lessen the impact of the downturn in the sector in the past two years.
She said:”We recognise that this is an on-going problem which is why Aberdeen City Council continues to take measures which are designed to lessen the impact of this downturn.
“It’s more important than ever that we drive forward with our regional economic strategy and City Region deal projects, which will enable us to diversify our economy while maximising the economic recovery from the North Sea and sustaining the oil and gas sector for the long term.
“We are playing our part through the Energy Jobs Task Force and making opportunities available in the public sector to redundant workers, and also our Business Gateway programme for start-up companies.”
Paul Goodfellow, Shell’s vice president for UK & Ireland, addressed staff in Aberdeen earlier today.
He said the company was continuing an “improvement journey” to create a competitive and sustainable business in the North Sea.
Goodfellow said despite improvements in the company’s business, current market conditions “remain challenging”.
Following the move, he added, Shell will have around 1,700 employees in the North East of Scotland.
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