Halliburton is set to cut up to 8 per cent of its global workforce in response to the fall in oil prices that has depressed petroleum industry investment.
The US oil services firm, which has a large presence in the UAE, will trim 6.5 to 8 per cent of its workforce, said spokeswoman Chevalier Mayes.
With about 80,000 employees around the world, the job cuts will hit between 5,200 and 6,400 workers.
Ms Mayes said the announcement includes the 1,000 job cuts disclosed in December that were set to take place in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia, but not in the Americas.
“We value every employee we have, but unfortunately we are faced with the difficult reality that reductions are necessary to work through this challenging market environment,” said Ms Mayes. “The impact will be across all areas of Halliburton’s operations.”
The cuts announced by Halliburton follow similarly sized layoff plans announced by Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Weatherford International and other oil services companies.
Leading oil companies have cut billions of dollars in planned spending for this year in response to a decline of about 50 per cent in oil prices since June. The cuts are hitting oil services companies, which assist with well preparation, tracking and other duties in the oilfield for petroleum producers.
In January, Halliburton said 2015 would be a difficult year for the oil industry, adding that its customers had cut their capital spending budgets by 25 or 30 per cent in response to lower oil prices.
“As activity in North America begins to fall more sharply, we will make similar adjustments here as well,” the Halliburton president Jeff Miller told analysts and investors last month. “Between actions already taken in the fourth quarter and actions we anticipate taking by the end of the first quarter, we expect our head count adjustments to be in line with our primary competitors.”
Meanwhile, US antitrust regulators have asked Halliburton and Baker Hughes for more information related to their proposed US$35 billion merger.
The deal, announced in November, was expected to face stiff scrutiny from the US department of justice because the two companies have overlapping business units not only in the US, but also in Asia and Europe.
* agencies
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