Up to 60 UK staff to go as covid-19 hits turnover

John Sisk & Son has said up to 60 of its UK staff face the axe due to the impact of covid-19.

The Irish contractor has confirmed that between 50 and 60 of the its UK staff are at risk, with consultations beginning in the next few days.

coronavirus construction

Source: Shutterstock

Sisk said covid-19 had hit work pipelines

The losses, which would amount to 7% of the Dublin-based contractor’s 800 UK employees, would mainly come from staff who have been furloughed.

The firm, which is building the 42-storey Mercian tower in Birmingham, said the covid-19 crisis had hit its pipeline of work, taking its toll on anticipated revenue for this year and next.

A spokesperson said: “This, coupled with the uncertainty around 2021, means taking action to ‘right-size’ the UK operation to secure the future of the business.â€

Sisk chief operating officer for UK construction and civil engineering Paul Brown said: “Although we are having to make these redundancies to safeguard the business going forward, we are confident that we can achieve our targets for 2021 and beyond.â€

Sisk currently employs around 1,700 people across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

The firm is the latest in a string to announce staff cut over the past few weeks, with Travis Perkins announcing 2,500 redundancies yesterday morning and Multiplex beginning talks to shed up to 20% of its staff.