Oil company BP has announced layoffs that will affect more than five percent of its workforce. This is one of the moves by company president Murray Achincloss to reduce costs and restore investor confidence.
A total of about 4,700 workers will be laid off this year, but the cuts will also include 3,000 people who are on contract, according to BP’s information to Reuters. The cuts were announced in an internal memo seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Oil company BP has announced layoffs
Last year, CEO Auchincloss said he would cut the British company’s operating costs by at least $2 billion by the end of 2026 to boost profits and address investor concerns about the company’s growth strategy.
The new board is trying to restore confidence in the company after the sudden resignation of its predecessor, Bernard Looney, in September 2023.
Worse than the competition
The job cuts are the result of a review of all BP branches. The concern employs around 90,000 people worldwide.
“We have a lot of work to do this year, next year and beyond, but we are making significant progress so that BP can continue to grow as a simpler, more focused and more valuable company,” Auchincloss said in the note.
The exact breakdown of the layoffs has not been revealed. However, in a separate memo from BP’s chief technology officer Emeka Emembolu, Reuters has learned that around 1,100 positions will be lost as a result of cuts or job transfers from the UK and US to Hungary, India and Malaysia.
The company declined to comment on the memo to the agency.
Shares in BP Group have underperformed most of its rivals over the past year, falling more than 5% compared with 5.5%. in the case of Shell and increased by 14 percent in the case of Exxon Mobil.
Main photo source: konkret24
