Houston Business Journal – by Olivia Pulsinelli
Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) will cut about 1,000 jobs in the Eastern Hemisphere, effective immediately, according to reports.
The cuts are unrelated to the company’spending $35 billion acquisition of fellow Houston-based oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI), the Houston Chronicle reports, and so far no cuts have occurred or are currently planned due to the proposed transaction, Rigzone reports.
“The decision to eliminate jobs is never easy,” Halliburton spokeswoman Emily Mir said in a statement to both publications. “Our talented workforce is the foundation of everything we accomplish, and we place the highest value on the commitment and hard work that our employees dedicate to building our company. Yet, we believe these job eliminations are necessary in order to work through this market environment.”
At the Capital One Southcoast Energy Conference a day earlier, Halliburton CFOMark McCollum said the company is already looking at places to make adjustments as oil prices drop.
“We are right now anticipating a restructuring charge in the quarter, probably to the tune of about $75 million as we trim out some headcount and activities around the world,” McCollum said, according to a transcript filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, adding that it’s not the company’s “first rodeo.”
Although Halliburton has seen no operational impact in North America due to low oil prices, it’s starting to see headwinds in the Eastern Hemisphere, McCollum said.
“It’s interesting that some of the initial impact has been more in the international area than it has been in North America,” McCollum said in the transcript. “And I just think you sort of recognize that in a lower oil price environment there’s nowhere to hide; it is going to affect all markets equally, and North America will probably be adjusting as we go into 2015.”
Meanwhile, London-based BP PLC (NYSE: BP), which is one of Houston’s top employers, said Dec. 10 it plans to spend $1 billion in “restructuring charges” through 2015 in order to implement hundreds of jobs cuts and structural changes.
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Olivia Pulsinelli is the web producer for the Houston Business Journal’s award-winning website. Follow her on Twitter for more.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/12/halliburton-to-cut-1-000-jobs.html?page=all
I would think that this company after decades of “winning” all those no-bid war contracts that Cheney set them up for could easily afford to carry 1000 workers for a while…after all they hijacked 100s of billions from taxpayers for bogus work….they are all part of the CONSTRUCT………MATRIX….lies and deceit for maximum profits. I am sure Cheney is proud.