Ovo Energy to axe a quarter of workforce amid energy crisis
Ovo Energy, one of the country’s largest energy suppliers, is set to slash a quarter of its workforce.
According to a report by Sky News, the firm will restructure in a bid to cut costs, with around 1,700 jobs out of 6,200 at risk.
The firm is expected to announce a voluntary redundancy programme as soon as Thursday.
Ovo has already hit the headlines this week for all the wrong reasons, after a blog post urged customers to cuddle their pets instead of turning the heating on.
The firm said it was “embarrassed” by the blog, which offered 10 tips on “keeping warming in the winter without turning up the heating”.
Other advice included to do star jumps or buy socks, as the energy sector faces a crisis with soaring prices.
Sky News reported that a source said the announcement of job cuts would be made hand-in-hand with a pledge to raise pay.
Remaining staff would see their pay increase to at least £12 per hour, it was reported on Wednesday evening.
Energy bills are anticipated to rise significantly in April, when the domestic consumer price cap is next updated by market regulator Ofgem . There have been forecasts of a 56 per cent increase, hiking the annual cost of average usage from £1,277 to £,2000.