Suncor Energy says it will cut 10 to 15 per cent of its workforce over next 18 months

CALGARY — Oil and gas giant Suncor Energy Ltd. says it will eliminate as many as 1,930 jobs over the next 18 months as a result of cost-cutting to deal with low oil prices and market volatility.

Spokeswoman Sneh Seetal says CEO Mark Little told employees on a conference call Friday morning the company will aim to reduce total staff by 10 to 15 per cent over the next 18 months, starting with a five per cent cut over the next six months.

The Calgary-based company had 12,889 staff at the end of 2019. Five per cent would equate to 644 positions and 15 per cent would equal 1,933.

Seetal says the cuts will be made across the entire organization and will also affect Suncor’s ranks of contracted workers, although she was unable to give those numbers.

In March, Suncor put projects on hold and cut its 2020 capital budget by $1.5 billion to a range between $3.9 billion and $4.5 billion to deal with lower oil prices from a glut of oil in the market and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, a spokeswoman said the cutbacks would result in fewer jobs for contract workers and could “potentially” hit employees as well.

The news comes a few days after Royal Dutch Shell announced it would eliminate between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2022, a move expected to potentially result in hundreds of job losses among its 3,500 workers in Canada.

In June, BP, which has a smaller workforce in Canada, said it was cutting around 10,000 jobs from its global workforce to cope with the impact of the pandemic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2020.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SU)

The Canadian Press

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