The oil company Shell plc will reduce the workforces in several of its exploration and development divisions by 20 percent, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The U.K.-based corporation is set to cut an unspecified number of workers after company officials engage with “groups that represent employees,” Bloomberg reported.
The person whom the outlet cited stated that the move comes as CEO Wael Sawan attempts to increase profits and efficiency. The person also said the layoffs would impact Shell plc’s exploration, strategy, development, subsurface, and wells departments.
A spokesperson from the company told the outlet in a statement that “Shell aims to create more value with less emissions by focusing on performance, discipline, and simplification across the business.”
Sawan, a Lebanese-Canadian business executive who first joined Shell in 1997 as an engineer with Petroleum Development Oman, according to Middle East Business Intelligence, became the CEO in January 2023 after longtime CEO Ben van Beurden stepped down, the Guardian reported.