BP is cutting thousands of jobs in an effort to cut costs
UK energy giant BP says it will cut more than 5% of its global workforce as it plans to cut costs as it moves into more operations outside its oil and gas business. The London-based conglomerate said on Jan. 16 it would lay off about 4,700 employees and also cut about 3,000 contractors this year. It did not detail how many jobs would be lost in different countries. The company announced on Thursday that 2,600 of these contractor positions have been eliminated. The company has approximately 90,000 employees worldwide. BP employees were notified of the outage by email. BP chief executive Murray Auchincloss said last year that he wanted to simplify the business. Auchincloss is expected to discuss the strategy at the company’s investor day on February 26. Investors are concerned about the company’s plans to reduce the amount of oil and gas it produces and its efforts to increase investments in renewable energy. The company said it wants to support more digitization efforts and use more artificial intelligence in marketing and engineering. “Last year (2024), we launched a multi-year program to simplify and focus BP,” BP said in a statement on Thursday. We strengthen our competitiveness as we lower our costs, improve performance and play on our unique capabilities. “A series of programs have been put in place across BP to deliver this. Today, we told our BP staff that the changes announced to date are expected to affect around 4,700 BP roles – these represent the majority of the cuts expected this year. We are also reducing our contractor workforce by 3,000. A priority as our transformation continues Our desire—of course—to be safe and secure jobs and We will continue to support our teams.
In an email to employees, Auchincloss wrote: “We’ve got a lot to do this year, next year and beyond, but we’re making strong progress as we position BP to grow as a simpler, more focused and high-value company.” He had planned to cut spending to $2 billion and wanted to save at least $500 million this year. Auchincloss wrote that he was aware of the “uncertainty that this job brings to anyone who might be exposed to it, as well as the impact it has on colleagues and teams.” Company officials who conducted a full review of BP’s divisions have said in advance that the multi-year plan could result in many job cuts to reduce operating costs. Auchincloss said the company’s focus on “our high-value opportunities” had caused at least 30 projects to be paused or stopped since June last year. Investors are wary of the company’s plans to cut oil and gas production by 2030, announced in 2023. BP’s previously announced target of cutting emissions by up to 40 percent in its operations by 2030 has been revised downwards, which officials are now seeking. 20% to 30% discount, keeping investment in fossils. Auchincloss said the company still has a “special position” to renewables to “add value through the energy transition”. “However, this does not give us an automatic right to win. We must move at the pace of our customers and society while improving our competitiveness,” he said. Auchincloss took over as BP’s chief executive in September 2023 following the resignation of Bernard Looney. Looney left after it was discovered he had failed to disclose his relationship with staff.
