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Sep 30, 2020 - Energy & Environment

Shell plans up to 9,000 job cuts by 2022

Ben Geman

A Shell station in Brazil. Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Royal Dutch Shell will shed up to 9,000 jobs as it undergoes a long-term restructuring around climate-friendly energy sources and continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic that has battered the oil industry.

Why it matters: The cuts could amount to over 10% of the company's global workforce, which was 83,000 at the end of 2019.

  • Oil giants are shaking up their plans as they cut costs. For European-based majors, that means diversifying over time away from fossil fuels.
  • It follows BP's June announcement that it would cut its global workforce by 10,000 jobs, or 14%.

The state of play: Shell expects to reduce its workforce by somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs by the end of 2022, which it said will help achieve as much as $2.5 billion in annual savings.

  • "We have to be a simpler, more streamlined, more competitive organization that is more nimble and able to respond to customers," CEO Ben van Beurden said in a statement on Wednesday.
  • He added that the figure includes around 1,500 people who have "already agreed to take voluntary redundancy this year."
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