Danish windpower giant Orsted recently made headlines when it announced a huge workforce layoff. They want to increase their competitiveness and re-orientate their focus back to European markets. At the end of 2021, the company had about 8,000 employees around the world. In the coming years, it plans to shrink its labor force by 2,000 workers. The first wave of layoffs will cut 500 jobs by the end of this calendar year.
Orsted’s difficulties stem from the Trump administration’s emplaced roadblocks-freeze on wind power develop in the US. This announcement further underscores the company’s continued fight against these headwinds. Unfortunately for the company, it appears they may be starting to feel the heat from increasing regulatory pressure. Therefore, it is redefining its strategic priorities and operational requirements as it closes out the full construction pipeline in coming years.
Orsted CEO Rasmus Errboe underscored the logic underlying these painful cuts in a release issued Thursday.
“This is a necessary consequence of our decision to focus our business and the fact that we’ll be finalising our large construction portfolio in the coming years – which is why we’ll need fewer employees,” – Rasmus Errboe
Lastly, he described the extent of the damage of all these layoffs, especially their effect in traumatizing the company’s employees.
“Today, we’ve told our employees that from now and until the end of 2027, we’ll be saying goodbye to many skilled and valued colleagues who’ve contributed greatly to Ørsted,” – Rasmus Errboe
The proposed cuts will allow us to make necessary efficiencies and position our organization for the future. This strategy will help fortify our competitive advantage in the fast-changing energy landscape. This newly-announced European strategy takes advantage of long-running trends towards favoring renewable energy sources in Europe.
The company, now a global leader in offshore wind, is perhaps best known for its Nysted Offshore Wind Farm, which it built between 2002 and 2003. This steerable jet project in the Baltic Sea, offshore of Gedser, Denmark. Further, it symbolizes an important achievement in Ørsted’s journey to becoming a dominant player in wind energy.
Orsted’s shares were up just over 1% in early European trade on Thursday. This steep jump indicates that investors are feeling optimistic even in the face of some daunting headwinds for the company. The mood is still stormy as the company goes through these stormy times.