Owing to the weak global economy, Royal Dutch Shell reported Thursday a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings and production and said it would cut 5,000 jobs.
The 5,000 jobs would be cut from the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas group as part of a restructuring that began earlier this year.
The job losses are part of a programme called Transition 2009, which was put in place by Peter Voser, who started as chief executive in July. The cutbacks represent some 4.9 per cent of the corporation's 102,000-member staff, and almost 10 per cent in those divisions Shell is merging.
Voser said the corporation had to take «stringent measures to further improve our performance» and its «competitive cost position».
Although the corporation had «some indications that energy demand and pricing are improving," he said, „ the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a quick recovery.
«Voser said the reorganisation, due to be completed by the end of the year was «progressing well“ and had already reduced operating costs by $1 billion (0.676 billion euros) in the first nine months of this year.
The energy giant said production in the third quarter amounted to 2. 93 million barrels a day, lower than the 3.39 million barrels analysts had counted on.
