Fortescue job cuts: 700 roles cut as Andrew Forrest concedes the mining giant will break a key green promise

Fortescue is making hundreds of white-collar workers redundant as Andrew Forrest concedes the mining giant will have to break a key green hydrogen promise.

Fortescue will make about 700 staff redundant, despite a healthy iron ore price. But Mr Forrest told The Nightly the job cuts were not an indicator the green energy side of the business was faltering.

“Job cuts are always heart-breaking, but in terms of our direct workforce it’s a bit over 4 per cent and it comes out of the streamlining and simplification of Fortescue to ‘One Fortescue’, not operating cost-driven,” the chairman told The Nightly.

“There’ll be ebbs and flows within the business . . . but Fortescue Energy is the reason why we have a decarbonising Fortescue Metals.

“We are streamlining this place to ensure we are the go-to company by governments and companies around the world as the world’s most efficient mining company.”

But Mr Forrest said Fortescue would not meet its target to produce 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 but would get there “eventually”.

He did not divulge if the job cuts were predominantly on the iron ore or green energy side of the business.

In a statement to the ASX, Fortescue said the job cuts and an accompanying raft of managerial changes would ensure the $68 billion company stayed “lean, impactful and agile.”

“The company must continually evolve to ensure it remains lean, is best positioned to deliver on its strategy and generate maximum value for shareholders,” the company said.

“Fortescue is grateful for the contributions of all of those impacted by these changes.”

The company stuck to its guns on achieving “real zero” — reducing emissions without offsets — by 2030.

Fortescue launched into the new world of “green energy” four years ago and embarked on a huge recruitment drive to build out what was then Fortescue Future Industries to about 1100 staff.

There has been a long list of executive departures from Fortescue, particularly in the green energy arm, over the past 12 months and it is again reshuffling its leadership team.

The market was told on Wednesday that Apple Paget, who has been the acting chief financial officer for the past 11 months, would move into the role permanently.

Phil McKeiver will step down as company secretary, as assistant company secretary Mona Gill takes over, but Mr McKeiver will remain as Fortescue’s general counsel.

Mr Forrest said Mr McKeiver also offered to resign as the company’s general counsel in “recent days”, but that was rejected by Fortescue’s chief executive Dino Otranto and Fortescue Energy chief Mark Hutchinson. It came in the wake of court revelations Fortescue was spying on the wives and children of former Fortescue scientists-turned-green hydrogen rivals.

We are streamlining this place to ensure we are the go-to company by governments ... around the world