Exxon Mobil Corp is “very close” to completing its workforce appraisals in the United States and Canada and expects to unveil job cuts, its chief executive told employees in an email on Wednesday.
The second-largest U.S. oil company by market value lost nearly $1.7 billion in the first six months and is expected to post another quarterly loss when results are released on Oct. 30.
The job cuts are part of a plan unveiled earlier this year to redesign how Exxon works and to increase competitiveness, CEO Darren Woods said in an email to its nearly 75,000-person workforce.
The company this year has exceeded a target of reducing operating expenses by $1 billion and capital budget spending by $10 billion, he wrote. But the COVID-19 pandemic has cut oil demand by about 20%, he said, delivering a “devastating impact” on the oil business.
He told employees that “we are very close” to completing the jobs review and that they could expect details soon.
“I wish I could say we were finished, but we are not. We still have some significant headwinds, more work to do and, unfortunately, further reductions are necessary,” he said in the email. 29dk2902l