MORE than 300 jobs are at risk from a “cynical attempt” to boost profits at energy company SSE, Unite has said. 

About half of those affected are in the company’s Renewable Services subsidiary, despite the operation’s annual profits rising by £87 million to £326m last year, said the union.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “SSE’s renewables operation is already extremely profitable and set to become even more so as the demand for renewables increases.

“The threat of job losses is a cynical attempt to further boost the company’s profits and not in the interests of workers or consumers.”

The proposed redundancies in SSE Renewables Services include critical support staff for the control room and those working in maintenance. 

Unite national officer Simon Coop said that staff in the renewables space are “already overstretched and being asked to work more and more hours.

“Their voices must be heard and we will ensure that this happens.”

A spokesperson for SSE said: “After a period of sustained growth, we’re undertaking an efficiency review to ensure we continue to operate in the most efficient and effective way possible into the future.

“We have informed colleagues that this will unfortunately lead to reduced headcount in some parts of our business.

“We understand this process will be difficult for our teams, and we’ll be consulting trade unions and keeping colleagues informed throughout.”