Duke Energy discloses scope of one of its largest recent job cuts
Last year was an historic year of job cuts for Charlotte-based Duke Energy.
In a securities filing this week, Duke Energy disclosed that it eliminated 1,900 jobs across its multi-state footprint in 2018, marking the most job cuts in a year in recent company history. The company said it paid $187 million in severance to the affected workers.
Spokesman Neil Nissan said that most of the job losses were the result of voluntary buyouts. Nissan said Duke would not disclose how many were involuntary layoffs.
The jobs were across several departments, including human resources, nuclear operations, IT and legal, Nissan said.
“Our company’s transforming, and as we transform, we’re always looking for ways to improve,” Nissan said. “We’re always looking for ways to lower costs.”
The cuts were across several states, including the Carolinas, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. Nationally, Duke employs 30,000 people. In Mecklenburg County, the company employs about 8,000, Nissan said.
In the filing, Duke said it cut 100 jobs in 2017 and 600 in 2016, the year it purchased Piedmont Natural Gas. Nissan said that the 1,900 cuts from last year were more than the company had in 2012, when it bought Progress Energy.
Last year’s job cuts total included those that have been previously reported.
In November, the Observer reported that Duke had expanded buyouts to several departments, including legal, human resources and power generation. In October, the Observer reported that Duke had offered buyouts to nuclear and IT employees.
In both cases, the company wouldn’t say how many employees were affected.
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 11:52 AM.
