The Wall Street Journal: Shell to Cut Up to 2,800 Tech Jobs

Associated Press

April 28, 2004 12:44 a.m.

LONDON -- Royal Dutch/Shell Group said Tuesday that it will eliminate as many as 2,800 jobs in its technology division by the end of 2006. Some of those jobs will be outsourced to India and Malaysia, the company said.

Shell, the world's third-largest public oil company in terms of market capitalization, said it expects the cuts to save it $850 million.

The company intends to cut between 1,900 and 2,800 jobs from the 9,300-strong work force in technology over the next few years -- cuts that will affect people working for Shell and for its contractors.

A company spokeswoman said the move had been under consideration for 18 months to two years. The job cuts were part of a business efficiency program that the company had discussed in its last quarterly results, Shell said.

The move is not related to Shell's overstatement of oil and gas reserves that has made the company the target of investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Justice Department and European regulators. Shell's chairman, its head of exploration and its finance chief have resigned over the overstated reserves.

U.S.-traded shares of Royal Dutch closed up 13 cents at $48.58 on the New York Stock Exchange, while U.S.-traded shares of Shell Group finished the session up 34 cents at $42.43.

Copyright © 2004 Associated Press

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