London-based energy firm BP plan to cut its global workforce by just over five per cent, resulting in 4,700 job losses.
The oil giant will also remove 3,000 contractor positions, reports Reuters, having seen an internal memo letting staff know of the upcoming changes.
CEO Murray Auchincloss announced the news after recovering from a medical procedure recently which enforced a delay to an investor event. Auchincloss was previously the CFO at BP and replaced Bernard Looney after his resignation from the top role in 2023.
“We have got more we need to do through this year, next year and beyond, but we are making strong progress as we position BP to grow as a simpler, more focused, higher-value company,” Auchincloss was reported saying in the memo to staff.
There have been no official timeframes given over when job losses will take place, but Reuters reports they may happen this year and that all divisions are expected to be subjected to review. With the company employing 90,000 globally, the cuts will represent a five per cent reduction in staff.
The CEO further acknowledged the impact the impending job losses would have and noted they would “account for much of the anticipated reduction this year”.
“I understand and recognise the uncertainty this brings for everyone whose job may be at risk, and also the effect it can have on colleagues and teams,” the memo read.
“We have a range of support available, and please continue to show care for each other, be considerate, and keep putting safety first — especially during times of change.”
Last year he vowed to reduce business costs by $2bn (£1.64bn) by 2026, after profits dropped lower than expected in the first half of 2024. At the time, Auchincloss noted a desire to focus on BP’s “high grade” projects rather than having a bigger volume of them.
Later in the year, BP announced a walkback on their stated aim of reaching net zero by 2050; although that had already been scaled back to a 25 per cent reduction in emissions by 2023 – the original proposal came three years earlier – in October a strategy reset saw oil placed prominently once more and a scaling back of some green energy production investments. Climate campaigners reacted by saying the company had thrown “any pretence of climate action out of the window”.
Mr. Auchincloss’s memo stated that a majority of contractors involved in the cuts had already left the business and underlined the company remained “uniquely positioned to grow value through the energy transition”.
Shares in BP, the sixth-biggest listed company on the London Stock Exchange by market capitalisation, were trading around 1.5 per cent higher on Thursday morning, though remain around five per cent down on 12 months ago.