British Gas owner Centrica plans overhaul with 1,300 job cuts over two years

Anna Wise, Press Association Business Reporter

British Gas owner Centrica has said it plans to axe a further 800 jobs on top of 500 role cuts announced last month as part of efforts to overhaul its customer services and support teams.

The energy supplier said the approximately 1,300 reductions would take place over two years.

Proposals involve the reduction of around 500 contact-based jobs in its customer operations team, alongside additional cuts to offshore outsource support jobs.

This will lead to an approximately 14% reduction in the company’s customer operations workforce.

Additionally, it is proposing to reduce roles within its group support functions in a bid to make them more efficient.

This overhaul is a response to structural changes in customer behaviour, with customer contact falling sharply as around 90% opt to use digital methods of support, according to Centrica.

A spokesman for Centrica said: “We have been transforming the business for a number of years to ensure we have the right roles in the right places for the future.

“This means making changes to improve efficiency, drive commercial performance and give our customers the service they want.

“At the same time, we continue to invest in the skills where there is demand, including recruiting more engineers to meet growing demand and hiring 500 apprentices this year alone.”

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