LONDON (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell says it is planning to cut between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2022 following a collapse in demand for oil and a subsequent slide in oil prices during the coronavirus pandemic.
The oil giant said Wednesday that around 1,500 employees have already agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year and that it is looking at a raft of other areas where it can cut costs, such as travel, its use of contractors and virtual working.
Overall, it said it expects the cost-cutting measures to secure annual cost savings of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion by 2022.
CEO Ben van Beurden said in an interview posted on the Shell website that the jobs cuts will reduce the amount of people between the company’s leadership and its lower level employees.
“None of this changes our values as a company, and we will do what we have to do with honesty, integrity and respect for people,” wrote the CEO. “We will be as fast as we can and we will show care for all those who lose their roles or who are negatively affected.”
Once the reorganization is complete, the CEO says he believes many more people will be positively affected – working in a quicker, more customer-focused organization and enabled to take the decisions that make a difference.