Consultant blames government cuts and weak economy for redundancies

Arup has announced that it could cut up to 600 jobs as public sector projects are cancelled.

The firm said today that it had told staff on Monday it was beginning a 90-day consultation that “may affect up to 600 employees”.

A spokesperson said that the decision was taken in the light of “public sector projects being cancelled or put on hold”.

In a statement, the company said: “We continue to operate in a period of uncertainty in the economy. Arup - like any responsible business - needs to ensure its long-term business health, which means that it is essential that we match our resources to our current and anticipated workload.”

The engineering giant said it had been hit by a weak market and the cuts in government expenditure.

Arup said: “While we will endeavour to redeploy staff within the firm where possible, we anticipate that these staff reductions may affect up to 600 employees. Groups that are part of the consultation include staff across Arup in the UK.

“We have begun a statutory 90-day consultation period with staff potentially affected, and we are doing everything that we can to ensure the programme is handled with transparency and sensitivity.”

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