Tullow Oils To Layoff Hundreds In Wake Of Exit

British exploration firm Tullow Oil has now announced that it plans to cut a third of its staff to slash its administration costs by a fifth, or around $20 million in a new restructure plan.

The company in a notice stated that it had embarked on reviewing its business operations and financial performance that are constantly being affected by the company’s growing wage bill. “These factors have affected the ability of the company to continue sustaining the human resource wage bill…. Resultantly, it is now inevitable that there may be job losses and redundancies at all levels and cadres of our organisation,” read the notice in part.

“Redundancies will be implemented in accordance with employees’ respective contracts employment, the employment laws, and the relevant Company policies,” further read the statement.

The move would shrink Tullow, which industry sources say is looking to sell its Kenya projects once vaunted as a growth engine for the group, to a workforce of around 650 people and come alongside pay and hiring freezes, the source said.

The firm attributes it’s woes on the production patterns in Kenya and other African countries.

The Irish founded but London-listed firm had lost half of its market value after its shares took a nosedive on December 9, following a surprise exit of its Chief Executive Officer Paul McDade, and Exploration Director Angus McCoss. Tullow has yet to announce a new chief executive.