Inverclyde’s MP Martin McCluskey and Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan have demanded to meet with bosses from Cigna to find out more about the healthcare and insurance firm’s long-term plans for the area.
Multiple well-placed Cigna sources have told the Telegraph that more than half a dozen staff at the Knowe Road site were told at the end of October that their roles were being cut.
It’s understood that the affected workers have been given the choice between applying for other posts with the firm, with no guarantee they’ll be accepted, or taking a redundancy package.
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A source said: “It’s laughable. This has happened several times in recent years.
“Staff affected have been offered the chance to take redundancy or go for other roles in Cigna.
“They’ve been told they will be sent vacancies in other teams, but that’s not going to guarantee you a job.
“I believe last time this happened, staff were offered proper redeployment, but that doesn’t seem to have happened this time.
“Work volume went crazy during Covid, so they frantically backfilled, because they thought they wouldn’t need to worry about office space.
“But when everything went back to normal, and nobody wanted to go into the office, they realised they were still paying for it, and brought in mandatory office days.
“I suspect at some point the Greenock office is going to go altogether.”
In 2022, the Telegraph revealed that job losses were looming at Cigna after the firm decided to review some of its product which were sold by staff at its Greenock headquarters.
The news came after another round of job losses had occurred in 2020, which saw 30 posts cut.
Reacting to the latest losses, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West MP Martin McCluskey said he had contacted the company to get more information about their plans.
The Labour politician said: “I’m reaching out to Cigna to find out the details of what they’re proposing and the number of jobs that are affected.
“I’m not happy about any jobs leaving the area. It’s a problem that we’ve had over the past couple of years, with significant numbers of jobs leaving.
“I said during the election campaign that one of the things that we had to stop is the existing jobs that we’ve got leaving the area.
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“I’m disappointed, but I want to find out the full facts from them.
“In terms of anyone who’s affected, if there’s anything that my office and my staff can do to support them, we stand ready to do that. They just need to get in touch with us.
“I’m going to have a conversation with them to establish the facts to find out what it is they’re doing now and ultimately what the future of that site is.”
Mr McCluskey said he was keen to talk to Cigna about their plans for the future to prevent a repeat of mobile network giant EE’s decision earlier this year to pull 450 local jobs out of Inverclyde.
He said: “I think the lesson from things like, for example, EE is we need to start those conversations now in advance of businesses making any decisions in order that there are no surprises for anyone affected, and that they are well looked after, but also so that if a business is looking for additional support from local or national government that we can have a conversation with them about that.”
Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan says he is also keen to find out what Cigna’s long-term plans for the site are.
He added: “This is disappointing news, which is why I have contacted Cigna asking to visit their Greenock site and speak with senior management to discuss these losses in more detail.
“I also want to understand what Cigna’s long-term plans are for their Greenock office. I’m conscious that the existing workforce may be unsure about what this means for their job security.”
A Cigna Spokesperson told the Tele: “We regularly assess the evolving needs of our customers and clients and align our market presence and services to ensure we continue to provide them with outstanding, locally relevant services.
“Following a recent review of our operations, we implemented a small reduction in roles at our Greenock hub.
“We are helping the seven impacted team members, who are in consultation, explore redeployment opportunities within the business and are supporting them through this challenging transition.”
