Halliburton to cut another 5,000 jobs amid oil slump

Halliburton Company, a drilling services for oil companies is cutting 5,000 more jobs as the industry continues to struggle with slumping oil prices.

The company’s spokesperson, Emily Mir announced on Thursday that the latest cuts will amount to about 8 percent of the Houston-based company’s global workforce.

She said the company was reducing its workforce “due to ongoing market conditions”.

Oil prices have tumbled about 70 percent since peaking above $100 a barrel in mid-2014. This has led to less drilling activity and to widespread layoffs in the oil fields.

Halliburton rival Schlumberger cut 10,000 jobs in the fourth quarter.

Mir said the company regretted the decision.

“We are faced with the difficult reality that reductions are necessary to work through this challenging market environment,” she said.

Mir said with the recent development, Halliburton will have reduced its workforce by between 26,000 and 27,000 employees since the peak in 2014.

The company grew from 58,000 employees in 2010 to more than 80,000 in 2014. It slashed the number to 65,000 by the end of of 2015.

However, the company had declined to announce when the layoffs would be, saying details were competitive information.

Halliburton’s operations stretch from the US to Africa and the Middle East to Asia.

5,000 workers out of the job as Halliburton makes cuts to cope with oil crash https://t.co/OJVUSi5FtH pic.twitter.com/Av9tC6sX6P

— Energydesk (@Energydesk) February 26, 2016

In November 2014, Halliburton had announced that it would buy U.S. rival Baker Hughes Inc. for $34.6 billion.