Weatherford plans to cut 3,000 more jobs by the end of 2015

Weatherford International has ratcheted up its layoff plans, announcing Wednesday that it will lay off another 3,000 workers by the end of the year.

The company reached its goal of slashing 11,000 jobs in the third quarter, but a fresh fall in oil prices and slumping international revenues spurred the company to revise the target to 14,000 worldwide, with an increased focus on support positions, Weatherford said.

The oil field services firm, based in Switzerland with main offices in Houston, said it has closed five manufacturing and service facilities, and will close another by the end of 2015. A seventh is slated for closure next year. Weatherford has also shuttered 70 operating facilities through the end of the third quarter and now plans to close 20 more by the end of the year in an effort to offset the pain from the lingering crude slump.

In total, the company has generated $2 billion in savings through cost-cutting measures that started in 2014, CEO Bernard Duroc-Danner said in a statement.

“We will continue to exhibit spending restraint and discipline right through 2016 and 2017,” he said. “We believe we can exit this downcycle as a leaner, delayered, more efficient and streamlined organization, ready to respond to market needs.”

The company posted a net loss of $42 million before certain charges, or 5 cents per share, during the three-month period ending Sept. 30. That’s down from a profit of $248 million during the same period last year.

Revenue tumbled from $3.9 billion to $2.2 billion.

Weatherford plans to discuss its results with investors on a conference call Thursday morning.

By Rhiannon Meyers

Source: FuelFix