British oil company will lay off 10 thousand employees

British oil and gas company British Petroleum (BP) will cut about 15% of its employees by the end of the year because of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Enkorr reports.

The company's CEO Bernard Looney remotely announced to his employees that he plans to cut 10 thousand people by the end of the year. Now the company employs 70.1 thousand employees.

Mostly, cuts will affect people in leadership positions. A fifth of the cuts will be in the UK, where 15 thousand employees work.

Job cuts are also part of Looney’s plan to make BP “more compact, fast-moving and low-carbon company.” He noted that the Covid-19 pandemic only accelerated the company's plans to switch to low-carbon energy.

BP cut spending for 2020 by 25% after the coronavirus pandemic led to a drop in oil demand. The company also said that it will receive a cost savings of $2.5 billion due to the digitalization and integration of its enterprises by the end of 2021.