BP to cut 4,700 jobs in fresh wave of cost-cutting measures
16 January 2025, 11:44 | Updated: 16 January 2025, 11:50
BP has said it will cut 4,700 jobs across its global workforce and 3,000 contractor roles as part of a cost-saving drive.
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The company did not disclose how many people were affected per country, but the reductions amount to just over 5% of its 90,000 worldwide employees.
BP has about 14,000 UK workers. Around 6,000 of those are based in petrol and service stations and will not be affected by the cuts.
Chief executive Murray Auchincloss announced the redundancies in an email to staff, seen by the PA news agency, on Thursday.
He wrote: "I understand and recognise the uncertainty this brings for everyone whose job may be at risk, and also the effect it can have on colleagues and teams."
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"We have a range of support available, and please continue to show care for each other, be considerate, and keep putting safety first - especially during times of change."
BP said the cuts were part of a multi-year plan to make savings across the business, and that there may be more reductions this year and beyond.
Mr Auchincloss added that the job losses announced on Thursday "account for much of the anticipated reduction this year".
He said the company is "focusing resources on our highest-value opportunities" and that it has stopped or paused 30 projects since June 2024.
The reductions come as the London-based energy giant tries to bring more digital capabilities into the business, with artificial intelligence increasingly playing a role in engineering and marketing operations.
Mr Auchincloss's memo said that about 2,600 of the contractors involved in the job cuts have already left the business.
He continued that the company is still "uniquely positioned to grow value through the energy transition".
"But that doesn't give us an automatic right to win. We have to keep improving our competitiveness and moving at the pace of our customers and society."
