World’s second largest provider of oilfield services, Halliburton, will let a thousand workers go, according to reports.
The layoffs will affect workers in Europe, Asia, Africa and Middle East, while there will be no workforce cuts in America.
Reportedly, Halliburton spokesperson told AFP that the job cuts were necessary for Halliburton to work through challenging market environment. Halliburton has a workforce of more that 80,000 employees, representing 140 nationalities in over 80 countries.
Oil prices have fallen more than forty percent since June, urging oil companies to cut spending, which in turn has largely affected the supply chain firms.
Even Schlumberger, world’s biggest oilfield services provider, recently said it would reduce its headcount to cut costs.
Halliburton did not reply to an e-mail sent by Offshore Energy Today, seeking more information on the reported layoffs.
Elsewhere in the oil and gas industry, Dutch SBM Offshore yesterday said it would lay off 1200 employees.
Update: December 12, 12:28 CET
In an e-mail sent to Offshore Energy Today, Emily Mir, a spokesperson for Halliburton, said:
“Halliburton has made the difficult decision to reduce its Eastern Hemisphere workforce by approximately 1000 employees, effective immediately. The decision to eliminate jobs is never easy. Our talented workforce is the foundation of everything we accomplish, and we place the highest value on the commitment and hard work that our employees dedicate to building our Company.
She added that the layoffs are not related to the recently announced Baker Hughes transaction.
“Yet, we believe these job eliminations are necessary in order to work through this market environment. No layoffs have occurred or are presently planned as a result of the pending Baker Hughes acquisition,” Mir said.
Offshore Energy Today Staff