In July, news came out that ConocoPhillips, a large energy provider, was cutting 1,000 jobs worldwide.
This week, the first 200 to 300 of these employees are expected to be laid off in Calgary, a city in the Canadian province of Alberta.
In a statement, it was confirmed that “the majority of reductions will be in our Calgary head office.”
Initially, the cuts were expected to take place during the third week of September, although all signs point to them coming this week. Canada, in particular, has been a region that ConocoPhillips has been looking to escape, due to low commodity prices and the general inability to expand their product reach.
Back when the cuts were first announced, ConocoPhillips acknowledged that staying competitive in Canada was a challenge due to high “corporate taxes, regulatory compliance costs and property taxes.”
In September 2015, the Canadian operations of ConocoPhillips announced its intentions to decrease its workforce by 15 percent, meaning 400 employees and 100 contractors were to lose their jobs.
Four months earlier in March, they announced their plans to trim their workforce by seven percent— or 200 jobs.
According to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, 44,000 jobs have been lost in Canada within the oil and gas industry since the Great Recession.
