Forestry Commission to shed 450 posts

450 forestry commission jobs are at risk as budget cuts of 25 percent have forced restructuring across the government department. The announcement came when England decided to sell off 15 percent of its state owned forests. As of yesterday, 237 posts in forest management and 39 posts in the grants division of FC England were at risk. Up to 70 jobs will be at risk while shared posts in Edinburgh will lose about 80 posts.

However final figures on how many staff will be affected are still to be confirmed. Further job cuts are also possible fallowing a final decision to sell of the forest that could total 500. Workers at the organization are protesting outside the Edinburgh office today over the planned job cuts and the proposals to sell public owned forest.

For many there is no prospect of picking up other work because the economy is in such a poor state and suffering from the cuts in public services. The private sector jobs that coalition spoke about have not materialised. These job losses will hit the industries and services allied to forestry, have a severe impact on small communities and affect tourism and other services to the 40 million visitors a year to the forests.

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2011/02/forestry-commission-to-shed-450-posts.htm