Halliburton plans to cut 6,400 jobs, making it just the latest company in the energy industry to slash its workforce.
The oil services giant said Tuesday it would lay off 8% of employees amid depressed oil prices and a scramble to reduce costs.
“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,” the company said in a statement.
The layoffs come in the midst of oil prices that have fallen by more than 60% because of and global glut in supplies. Last month, oil services firm Schlumberger said it would lay off 9,000 employees. Meanwhile, rival Baker Hughes (BHI) said it would cut 7,000 jobs. Last week, Weatherford International (WFT), another oil services firm, said it would lay off 8,000 workers. A study released earlier this month showed that the industry lost some 21,000 jobs in January alone.
Halliburton (HAL) said that these layoffs were not a result of its recent plans to acquire rival firm Baker Hughes for $34.6 billion. It did not provide further detail on the areas to be targeted for cuts other than to say they would impact all areas of its operations.
Halliburton’s cuts come on top of plans announced in December to slash 1,000 jobs outside the US.
