Exxon’s workforce falls by 9,000 in 2021 amid cost cuts

Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday its global workforce fell by 9,000 people last year as part of a deep cost-cutting program after the COVID-19 pandemic battered energy demand and prices.

The largest U.S. oil producer has been restructuring, selling assets and slashing costs to boost shareholder returns after suffering a historic loss in 2020. Those efforts helped the company post its best annual profit in seven years in 2021.

Exxon said in a securities filing that it ended last year with 63,000 regular employees, down from 72,000 in 2020 and from 74,900 before the pandemic.

The workforce size including contractors was not disclosed. In October 2020, the company planned to cut 14,000 jobs, including contractors, or about 15% of its workforce.

Exxon had about 88,300 workers, including some 13,300 contractors, at the end of 2019.

Exxon in 2020 conducted “an extensive global review of staffing levels” to improve efficiency and reduce costs by the end of 2021, it said in its 2020 annual report. The review included “both voluntary and involuntary employee separations and reductions in contractors.”

In January, Exxon said it planned a restructure of its global operations that will combine its refining and chemicals businesses into one. It also vowed to cut $6 billion from operating costs by next year.