Our Chief Executive, Donna Hutchison, highlights the fragile future of Aberdeen, and ensuring real voices are heard by policymakers.
"Aberdeen is standing on a cliff edge - and the futures of thousands of people hang in the balance.
The UK’s energy transition is not just an economic or technological shift. At its heart, it is about people.
Behind every headline, every restructuring, every closure, are real lives: skilled workers, families, apprentices, supply‑chain businesses, and communities whose health and wellbeing depend on stability and opportunity.
And this week has been another painful reminder of how fragile things are.
Yesterday, in one day alone, we saw Revolución de Cuba close its doors in Aberdeen, BrewDog announce the end of its Aberdeenshire distillery and entire spirits range, and local independents like JP’s Kitchen also feeling the pressure. These aren’t isolated stories they reflect a pattern of contraction across sectors that communities here can’t absorb indefinitely.
We’ve seen this before.
The collapse of the coal industry left deep and lasting scars: communities hollowed out, generational unemployment, health inequalities that persist decades later. We cannot make those mistakes again.
The new report Cliff Edge: Jobs in Aberdeen, published by The Jobs Foundation, brings together an unprecedented coalition of voices - industry, trade unions, charities, and supply‑chain businesses - all saying the same thing:
➡️ Without a pragmatic, planned transition that protects domestic energy security and the workforce, Aberdeen could lose around 400 jobs every two weeks, with the workforce potentially halving by 2030.
➡️ Aberdeen is not resisting change. Oil and gas will still be needed for decades as renewables scale. Ignoring that reality risks exporting jobs, skills, and emissions elsewhere while communities here pay the price.
➡️ Once high‑value skills leave, they rarely return.
This is a moment of choice: repeat the mistakes of the past, or finally learn from them.
Right now, the promise of a just transition and the lived reality on the ground are not aligned. And the consequences of getting this wrong will be felt far beyond one sector as this week's hospitality and small‑business job losses remind us.
We were proud to contribute to this report alongside others who care deeply about their workforce, their communities, and the long‑term future of the North East.
📄 Read the full report: https://thejobsfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Cliff-Edge.pdf
If you believe that a fair transition must protect people as well as targets, please read, reflect and share."