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Shell logo on a gas pump: 8,000 jobs are lost
Photo: Christophe Gateau / DPA
Shell is suffering from the slump in oil prices as a result of the corona crisis - and is now fighting the economic consequences with an austerity program.
The Dutch-British energy company announced that between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs will be lost by the end of 2022.
1500 employees have already agreed that their employment contracts will be canceled.
Overall, around ten percent of the 80,000 employees worldwide would be affected by the job cuts.
Shell aims to save between $ 2.0 billion and $ 2.5 billion annually by cutting jobs and optimizing its business processes from 2022.
According to CEO Ben van Beurden, the cuts are inevitable - Shell has no choice but to become "a simpler, more streamlined and more competitive organization" that can respond more quickly to customer needs.
Oil companies are suffering from lower demand
According to an insider, the group had informed the employees in the summer that appropriate conversion plans should be presented by the end of the year.
The board of directors had already announced at the time that it was also planning job cuts.
The new structure is not expected to come into effect before 2021.
The oil companies made billions in losses this year because of the corona crisis and the low demand for the raw material.
Shell competitor BP had already announced that it would cut around 10,000 jobs - around 15 percent of all jobs at the group.
Shell announced that less oil and gas had been produced in the third quarter because of the corona pandemic and hurricanes.
At the same time, fuel demand has picked up again after being at lows in the second quarter during the global shutdown.
Shell announced that it would again make write-offs of one to 1.5 billion in the third quarter.
In the second quarter, Shell reduced the book values of its assets by $ 16.8 billion.
Shell is preparing to switch to green electricity
The cost reductions are also important to the oil giant’s plans to switch to the power sector and renewable energies to improve its carbon footprint.
The group not only wants to reduce or offset its own greenhouse gas emissions, but also those of customers when they consume Shell products - by over a third within a decade.
This was announced by the chairman of the management of Deutsche Shell Holding GmbH, Fabian Ziegler.
Shell wants to save around 30 million tons of CO2 per year, which corresponds to around a tenth of the federal government's reduction target by 2030.
"We believe that this can succeed if at the same time politicians ensure the necessary framework conditions and customers increasingly request lower-CO2 products," said Ziegler.
Shell wants to become the leading supplier of "green hydrogen" for industrial and transport customers.
Among other things, the electrolysis capacity in the Rhineland refinery is to be increased tenfold.
In addition, the company wants to participate in the production of renewable energies in Germany through offshore wind or combined offshore wind / hydrogen production and to set up around 1000 fast charging stations for e-cars at its filling stations by 2030.
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