Oil major BP to cut 15% of workforce

BP announced it will cut about 15 percent of its workforce in response to the coronavirus crisis and as part of Chief Executive Bernard Looney’s plan to shift the oil and gas major to renewable energy.

Looney told employees in a global online call that the London-based company will cut 10,000 jobs from the current 70,100. “We will now begin a process that will see close to 10,000 people leaving BP – most by the end of this year,” Looney said in a statement.

Like all the world’s top energy companies, BP has cut its 2020 spending plans after the coronavirus pandemic brought an unprecedented drop in demand for oil.

BP is giving no pay rises to senior employees until March 2021 and said it is unlikely to pay any cash bonuses this year.