A spokesman for an American oil and gas company, one of the world's largest oil producers and one of the largest corporations in the world by market capitalization, estimates that about 14,000 employees worldwide, or 15%, could lose their jobs. including contractors. The cuts will include everything from layoffs to retirement or performance-based layoffs.
Exxon had about 88,300 employees last year, including 13,300 contractors.
“We're not targeting headcount reduction percentages,” said spokesman Casey Norton, adding that “the end result could be around 15% of our global workforce.”
The company lost nearly $ 1.7 billion in the first six months of the year and is expected to post another quarterly loss on Friday.
Exxon said the job cuts as part of the global reorganization will come primarily from its Houston, Texas office and will include voluntary and mandatory layoffs.
“The impact of COVID-19 on demand for Exxon Mobil products has heightened the urgency of ongoing work to improve efficiency,” the company said in a statement.
Exxon shares rose 2.9% on Thursday at $ 32.50.
Before the pandemic, CEO Darren Woods pursued an ambitious spending plan to boost oil production, betting that the growing global middle class would demand more of its products.
Exxon was once the largest publicly traded company in the United States, but has been cutting costs due to falling oil demand and untimely rates for new fields and expansions.
