The Electrical Trade Union says the “spill and fill” process will require staff to reapply for their existing jobs.

Essential Energy announced earlier this year it planned to axe 1395 jobs across NSW.

The company informed staff a final meeting of the Redundancy Consultative Committee will be held Tuesday, September 8, before individual employees impacted by the cuts are notified on September 9 and 10.

Depots to lose staff include Bega, Bombala, Cooma, Jindabyne, Bathurst, Blayney, Canowindra, Molong, Oberon, Orange, Braidwood, Crookwell, Goulburn, Moruya, Boorowa, Gundagai, Harden, Queanbeyan, Tumbarumba, Tumut and Yass.

Workers have been informed they need to reapply for their jobs through a process involving: “a basic psychometric assessment of cognitive capability, personality, motivations and interests; a selection criteria assessment; an interview; and, if required, a functional assessment”.

The Electrical Trade Union and United Services Union, which represent Essential Energy workers, say the move is just the beginning and there will be much more pain to come.

“Essential Energy management have told unions that they already know the names and location for the remaining twelve hundred job losses that are yet to be announced and we believe up to 300 of these will come from the south and central west of the state,” ETU deputy secretary Neville Betts said.

“Allowed to continue, these huge staffing reductions will result in the loss of specialist skills and experiences from these communities resulting in chronic future skills shortages not to mention network reliability and safety concerns.”

Mr Betts said there were alternatives to the deep job cuts.

“Unions have put forward a range of options, including for job sharing arrangements and other efficiencies, that could drastically reduce the number of local people who will lose their jobs,” he said.

“Rather than taking a simplistic approach of cutting jobs, unions have put forward genuine alternatives that can keep people in work, keep skills in regional NSW, and deliver savings for consumers.”

USU energy manager Scott McNamara said the eventual loss of 1395 jobs across rural and regional NSW would devastate many communities.

“This first round of cuts, which make up barely more than 10 per cent of the number that will eventually go, have already impacted more than 20 depots across this region alone,” Mr McNamara said.

“These are the staff that ensure electricity services operate around the clock, providing quality customer service and going above and beyond in emergencies.

“Every one of these communities will feel the economic loss caused by the axing of quality jobs, while electricity consumers will suffer due to a reduction in staffing and services.

“Before the election, National Party politicians were extremely vocal about protecting Essential Energy jobs.

“It seems they were really only interested in protecting one job — their own — and now that they are secure for another four years they are nowhere to be seen when it comes to protecting local jobs from these massive cuts.”