(Calgary) Pipeline giant Enbridge announces the elimination of 650 positions due to what it calls “increasingly difficult business conditions.”
Enbridge spokesperson Gina Sutherland confirmed the cuts in an email Tuesday, adding that the Calgary-based company aims to complete the cuts by June 1.er March.
“Continuing headwinds – including rising interest rates, economic uncertainty and the knock-on effects of geopolitical developments – are all contributing to increasingly challenging business conditions across many sectors,” explained Ms.me Sutherland.
The company currently has about 12,000 employees, primarily in the United States and Canada, according to its website.
Enbridge will attempt to minimize the human impact of the cuts by first seeking to reduce vacant positions, contract positions and redeploy staff where possible, Ms.me Sutherland.
She did not specify which business units or regions would be most affected.
Enbridge, which is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 financial results on Feb. 9, has made a number of important business moves in recent months.
In September, the company announced that it will acquire three U.S. utility companies – East Ohio Gas Company, Questar Gas Company and its Wexpro companies, and Public Service Company of North Carolina – from Dominion Energy, a Virginia-based company in a US$14 billion cash and debt transaction.
The deal, expected to close this year, will double the size of Enbridge’s gas utility business, making it the largest by volume in North America, with a combined rate base of more than 27 billion and approximately 7,000 employees delivering more than nine billion cubic feet per day of gas to approximately seven million customers.
The company also announced in December the sale of its interests in the Alliance Pipeline and Aux Sable gas processing facility to Pembina Pipeline for $3.1 billion. It said it would use a portion of the proceeds to help finance the previously announced purchase of U.S. government agencies.
Enbridge is not the only Canadian energy company to announce significant layoffs in recent months. Suncor Energy announced last June that it planned to cut 1,500 positions before the end of 2023 in an effort to reduce costs and improve the company’s financial performance.