Oil industry finds sweet spot for job cuts

The oil and gas industry has struggled to make changes to improve the bottom line, and that has included cutting jobs.

But there’s a silver lining: in the recent downturn, most oil and gas companies (81%) that reduced staff by 25% to 30% reported the highest level of reorganization success, reveals an EY market study completed in association with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business.

Cut staff by more, however, and success will be elusive, says the study.

The report also finds a direct correlation between increased upfront rigour and higher levels of success. For example, the report highlights that, during and after successful reorganizations, companies were more likely to:

consider their short- and long- term goals;
conduct external benchmarking;
and make actual changes to how work gets done.

Globally, more than 350,000 people have lost their jobs in the oil and gas sector since prices began to slump in mid-2014, says the report. In Alberta alone, the industry has seen job cuts of nearly 30,000 since the fourth quarter of 2014, as reported by government.

Read the full report.

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