16th April 2026
Aberdeen is entering another wave of job losses just as the UK faces the most serious energy‑security warnings since the 1970s.
Spirit Energy's plan to cut around 100 jobs is only the latest in a cascade of reductions across the North Sea sector.
Today
Energy firm spirit to cut 100 jobs in Aberdeen and how many others have already or are planning to recue staff.
Spirit Energy is cutting around 100 jobs in Aberdeen, and this sits within a much wider pattern of job losses and planned reductions across the North Sea energy sector. The scale of cuts now spans operators, supply‑chain firms, ports, and engineering companies — and the numbers are mounting quickly.
Other firms already cutting or planning to cut staff
Harbour Energy
Cutting 250 Aberdeen onshore jobs (around 25% of its workforce).
This follows 350 earlier job losses in Aberdeen in 2023.
The company directly blames the Energy Profits Levy (windfall tax) and a "challenging regulatory environment."
Supply‑chain firms
Regional leaders report around 350 supply‑chain jobs lost in the last couple of weeks in Aberdeen and the North‑east.
Port of Aberdeen
The port has begun a restructuring process with job cuts planned, though the exact number is not yet confirmed.
Driven by a 25% drop in North Sea activity over the summer and a 10% year‑to‑date decline.
Nexos (Aberdeen‑headquartered)
Preparing to cut North Sea oil and gas jobs, though numbers have not yet been disclosed.
Hunting PLC
Almost 100 Aberdeen jobs at risk as part of a major restructuring of its European operations.
What this adds up to
Across the region in the past months:
Spirit Energy: 100
Harbour Energy: 250 (plus 350 last year)
Supply chain firms: ~350
Hunting PLC: ~100 at risk
Port of Aberdeen: unspecified but confirmed reductions
Nexos: unspecified but confirmed reductions
That's at least 800-900 confirmed or at‑risk jobs, not counting the Port of Aberdeen or Nexos numbers, which will push the total higher once announced.
Harbour Energy has already removed hundreds of posts, supply‑chain firms have shed around 350 roles in recent weeks, and engineering companies like Hunting PLC have put nearly 100 more at risk. The Port of Aberdeen is restructuring too, driven by a steep fall in activity.
The contradiction is stark. Scotland is reducing the very workforce that maintains offshore platforms, pipelines, subsea infrastructure, and emergency response capacity at the same time as global analysts warn of a tightening oil market, fragile gas supplies, and the possibility of real physical shortages if geopolitical tensions escalate. The UK is not yet in crisis, but the warnings are credible enough that ministers have quietly begun contingency planning.
Why the cuts are happening anyway
Three forces are colliding:
Policy instability. The Energy Profits Levy (windfall tax) has created a stop‑start investment environment. Companies say they cannot plan multi‑year projects when fiscal rules change every few months. Harbour Energy has been explicit: the tax is a major driver of its reductions.
Regulatory uncertainty. Licensing rounds, environmental approvals, and decommissioning rules are all in flux. Firms are reluctant to commit capital when they cannot predict the regulatory landscape.
A collapse in confidence. Even where fields remain viable, companies are choosing to shrink UK operations and invest elsewhere. The North Sea is no longer seen as a stable basin.
This is not about geology. It is about governance
Why this matters far beyond Aberdeen
When Aberdeen catches a cold, the Highlands get pneumonia. Caithness, Sutherland, and the wider rural north depend on:
specialist contractors who travel from Wick, Thurso, and Invergordon to offshore support bases
fabrication and engineering firms whose order books rely on North Sea maintenance cycles
transport, haulage, and fuel distributors whose margins depend on steady industrial demand
local households whose incomes are tied to rotational offshore work
Every job cut in Aberdeen removes spending power, contracts, and supply‑chain activity that ripple north. Rural communities feel the shock more sharply because they have fewer alternative employers and already face fragile service provision.
The deeper contradiction: cutting capacity when we may need it most
The UK is entering a period of heightened global risk:
Middle East instability threatens oil flows.
Europe remains exposed to gas volatility.
Domestic storage is limited.
Electricity demand is rising faster than renewable capacity can be built.
In such a context, reducing the skilled workforce that maintains legacy oil and gas infrastructure is strategically reckless. Even if the long‑term goal is net zero, the transition requires more engineering capacity, not less. Offshore wind, hydrogen, carbon capture, and grid reinforcement all rely on the same skill base now being hollowed out.
Scotland is not just losing jobs; it is losing capability.
What this means for Caithness and the wider Highlands
The north is doubly exposed:
Higher fuel prices hit rural households harder because of longer supply chains and car‑dependent living.
Reduced industrial activity weakens the case for investment in ports, roads, and digital infrastructure.
Loss of skilled workers accelerates depopulation, especially among younger tradespeople and engineers.
Energy‑security shocks (if they come) will be felt first and worst in remote areas with limited redundancy in supply.
The Highlands need stability, not volatility. Yet national policy is producing the opposite.
The political question your readers will ask
How can a country that may soon struggle to secure enough energy be simultaneously dismantling the workforce that produces it?
That is the core tension. It is not anti‑transition; it is pro‑competence. A managed transition requires investment, clarity, and continuity. What Scotland has instead is drift, uncertainty, and a shrinking industrial base.