Dozens of gas main layers and labourers in Dundee could be paid off after infrastructure support services company May Gurney announced plans to shed 96 jobs.
Staff were summoned to the Lochee site to be told that their jobs are at risk following the scaling back of a contract with major client Scotia Gas Networks (SGN).
Workers in Dundee, Falkirk and Aberdeen are affected by the plan, which is subject to a 30-day consultation period.
The company could not confirm how many staff in Dundee will lose their jobs but it is understood that the Perrie Street site could bear the brunt.
“There is no set figure for Dundee at the moment,” a May Gurney spokesman said.
“Aberdeen will have the smallest number going, but Falkirk and Dundee are in the same situation. Where most of the contracts have been lost are in the Central region, so the burden may fall more towards the Central region.
“The main layers and labourers are the primary source of job losses but the exact distribution will not be clear until the end of the 30-day consultation process.”
He added: “Some of the 96 to go will be as a result of voluntary redundancy.”
Based in Norwich, May Gurney has had a presence in Dundee since 2011, when it bought over Turriff Group in a deal worth up to £23 million.
It has eight operating divisions and employs around 6,000 staff nationwide, 300 in Scotland. The Dundee site is responsible for 155 workers.
A five-year working agreement between SGN and May Gurny ended in March and the two firms have been working to mitigate job losses since September.
An internal memo seen by The Courier said: “As we announced to staff on 19 September 2012, our long-term client SGN indicated to us that it plans to reduce the amount of work it outsources in line with its submission to the regulator, together with further downturns in gas work volumes in Utilities Scotland, has had a consequent impact on our staffing needs in Scotland.
“May Gurney entered into consultations with our staff and the full review process, started last September, has now been completed. It is anticipated that there will be 96 job losses in total across Falkirk, Dundee and Aberdeen workforces.”
Trade union GMB, which represents some workers, said it will keep a watching brief on May Gurney during the consultation.
Martin Doran from the union said: “We’ll do everything to support our members and make sure the company is following due diligence.”
SNP MSP for Dundee City West Joe FitzPatrick said the number of jobs under threat is lower than was initially feared.
“We contacted the company’s senior management last year to find out if there was some scope for redeployment of workers into other contract work, and that seems to have been the case,” he said.
“We also got assurances that they will be working hard with employee representatives and with their other major clients to find opportunities for staff and to keep job losses to a minimum.”
The MSP remains hopeful that workers who are laid off will find employment elsewhere.
“Staff have certain transferable skills which will, we hope, make them sought-after employees for similar work with other service companies,” he said.
The leader of Dundee’s Labour councillors Kevin Keenan said the job losses are “disappointing”.
He added: “My immediate concerns are with those who are facing redundancy. Labour will continue to keep pushing to deliver jobs for our city.”