Shell has started to make hundreds of job cuts, with positions in its low-carbon solutions unit among the first to be eliminated, said people familiar with the matter.
Staff were told details about the cuts this week, after the broader plan for headcount reductions was announced internally in December, the people said, asking not to be named because the information was private.
Workers in the corporate affairs division have also been notified and other departments including projects and technology are to follow, two of the people said.
“Shell aims to create more value with less emissions by focusing on performance, discipline and simplification,” a spokesperson said. “Achieving those reductions will require portfolio high grading, new efficiencies and a leaner overall organisation.”
Shell (LON:SHEL) Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan, who took the job a year ago, has pledged to be “ruthless” in improving performance and boosting investor returns.
The company is making a concerted effort to close the stock’s valuation gap with US rivals such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. by selling assets and reducing low-return investments, including some in clean energy.
Shell employed about 93,000 globally on a full and part-time basis at the end of 2022, more than double that of Chevron, despite the US company having a market value 34% higher. About 1,800 people are already leaving Shell as part of the sale of its home retail business to Octopus Energy.
In October, the company said 200 positions in its low carbon solutions unit would be cut this year, about 15% of the total, with a further 130 up for review.
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