The publicly-owned operator has revealed its first tranche of staffing cuts will mean current staff will be required to reapply for their existing jobs.

Essential Energy announced earlier in the year it planned to cut 1395 jobs across NSW.

The company informed staff that a final meeting of the Redundancy Consultative Committee would take place on Tuesday, September 8, before individual employees impacted by the cuts were notified on September 9 and 10.

Depots that will lose staff include Coonabarabran, Dunedoo, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Quirindi, Warren, Broken Hill, Menindi, Wilcannia, Dubbo, Mudgee, Narromine, Wellington, Coonamble, Moree, Narrabri, Walgett, Bourke, Cobar and Nyngan.

Workers have been informed they will need to reapply for their jobs through a process involving “a basic psychometric assessment of cognitive capability, personality, motivations and interests; a selection criteria assessment; an interview; and, if required, a functional assessment”.

The Electrical Trade Union and United Services Union, which represent Essential Energy workers, said there were alternatives to the deep job cuts.

“Unions have put forward a range of options, including for job sharing arrangements and other efficiencies, that could drastically reduce the number of local people who will lose their jobs,” ETU deputy secretary Neville Betts said.

“Allowed to continue, these huge staffing reductions will result in the loss of specialist skills and experiences from these communities resulting in chronic future skills shortages not to mention network reliability and safety concerns.

“Rather than taking a simplistic approach of cutting jobs, unions have put forward genuine alternatives that can keep people in work, keep skills in regional NSW, and deliver savings for consumers. 

“What the community needs to know is that these 58 local jobs are just the beginning and that there will be much more pain to come.

“Essential Energy management have told unions that they already know the names and location for the remaining 1200 job losses that are yet to be announced and we believe more than 300 of these will come from the north and west of the state.”

USU energy manager Scott McNamara said the eventual loss of 1395 jobs across rural and regional NSW would devastate many communities.

“This first round of cuts, which make up less than 10 per cent of the number that will eventually go, have already impacted 20 depots on the north of NSW alone,” Mr McNamara said.

“These are the staff that ensure electricity services operate around the clock, providing quality customer service and going above and beyond in emergencies.

“Every one of these communities will feel the economic loss caused by the axing of quality jobs, while electricity consumers will suffer due to a reduction in staffing and services.

“Before the election, National Party politicians were extremely vocal about protecting Essential Energy jobs.

“It seems they were really only interested in protecting one job – their own – and now that they are secure for another four years they are nowhere to be seen when it comes to protecting local jobs from these massive cuts.”