Leading global oil servicing company and a key service provider in the country’s oil and gas sector, Baker Hughes, has announced a cut of about 10,500 jobs across its global operations due to the weak global oil market.

The company in a statement said that the decision to reduce its staff strength by 10,500 which represents about 17% of the company’s workforce was to streamline the company’s finances amidst the drop in exploration and production activities by the oil majors.

The decision of Baker Hughes is similar to the one taken by rival oil servicing firm, Schlumberger that cut some 9,000 jobs recently and announced a proposed further cut of 11,000 more jobs soon.

The company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Martin Craighead, in the statement said the company recorded a decline in revenue in the first quarter of 2015 which represented a 20% year-on-year decline and noted that extreme market forces are in play in the global energy sector.

“Our first quarter results are a reflection of the extreme market forces faced by our industry since late December. Consistent with past downturns, many of our customers have curtailed or cancelled projects,” he added.

The rig count in the global oil market has been on a decline with number of rigs in service worldwide falling by about 1.8 percent from March to 1,251 for the week ending April 10. In the United States, the rig count is down nearly 4 per cent to 988, while Craighead said the North American rig count was down by more than 1,000.

The downward trend sin the oil industry made Baker Hughes a takeover target from another rival company, Haliburton in November 2014 with plans underway for Haliburton to buy all outstanding shares in Baker Hughes for $34.6 billion in a deal that is expected to close by the end of the year.

"We expect unfavourable market conditions to persist.
"North America and international rig counts are projected to continue declining across most onshore and shallow water markets, which would further intensify the oversupply of oilfield services,” Craighead said.

Credits: http://go.engineer-ng.net/forum/topics/baker-hughes-cuts-10-500-jobs-globally

This is really pathetic for both those who are laid-off and fresh graduates who intend gaining meaningful employment with BH....Halliburton and schlumberger did same...

This is serious oo. I just hope this won't affect the new intakes. Anyway, business is stabilizing.