Aker Solutions Layoffs
Aker Solutions have announced that they plan to temporarily layoff 150 employees at their offices in Agotnes, Norway. These workers are part of the subsea services team and have already been informed of the decision. A company spokesperson cited a “continued challenging market situation”.
At the same time, Aker Solutions have reported an increase in orders and earnings for Q2 2018 in their recent quarterly report. It seems feasible that this really will be a temporary situation because Aker Solutions' CEO Luis Araujo, said:
“While the market remains very competitive, activity is picking up as lower breakeven costs and higher oil prices spur project sanctions... Our order intake in the quarter was almost double the same period a year earlier and we're seeing high tendering activity in our main markets.”
Aker Solutions ASA is a Norwegian company that provides products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry. They're based in Oslo but employ around 14,000 people in 20 countries. Back in 2014, there were nearly 21,000 workers at one point, which is a testament to the effect of the recent crash.
Here are a few notable recent announcements:
January 2017:Aker Solutions announced a potential drop of around 650 people from their workforce. The cuts were likely to be in Norway, UK and India. Of the 650, they said that around 100 positions may be affected in Aberdeen and London, and 270 in Norway. The reasons given were related to the general persistent slowdown and global reorganisation in general.
September 2016Around 100 workers were to lose their jobs temporarily, the company predicted. These cuts would be from the subsea department in Norway. Interestingly, a spokesperson mentioned that temporary rather than permanent cuts were chosen due to seasonality. Apparently, some aspects of business pick up in the spring, presumably due to harsh winter conditions.
February 2015:Roughly 300 jobs were axed in Norway. This was a response to the falling oil price during the recent crash. The price drop resulted in a decline in demand for drilling services.
