Oil and Gas

Baker Hughes says it will cut 7,000 jobs

by Leslie Turk

On the heels of layoff confirmations from Schlumberger and Halliburton, which is likely to announce even more cuts Tuesday, comes discouraging news from another oilfield services giant.

[UPDATE: Halliburton did not give a specific number of cuts today, saying only that its workforce reduction would be in line with its competitors.]

The falling price of oil is taking more jobs down with it. Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes confirmed Tuesday that it will lay off roughly 7,000 employees, or about 11 percent of its worldwide work force.

Word of the cuts comes as the company, set to be bought by competitor Halliburton for $34.8 billion later this year, posted record revenue of $6.6 billion for the fourth quarter, a 6 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2013, and made $24.6 billion for the full fiscal year, up 10 percent over 2013, USA Today reports.

Last week another competitor, Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services company, announced it would cut 9,000 employees, about 8 percent of its global workforce, and in December Halliburton said it would cut 1,000 workers in the Eastern Hemisphere, about 1 percent of its workforce. Halliburton is expected to announce additional cuts later today (Tuesday).

All three local companies, which employs hundreds of workers in the Acadiana area, have not disclosed how the cuts will affect the local workforce.

Read more on this latest announcement and view a roundup of significant industry-wide cuts here.