Malaysia's PETRONAS set to terminate 1,000 jobs

Affected by the prolonged volatility in oil prices, Malaysian state energy firm PETRONAS has announced it expects to cut about 1,000 jobs.

The company stated the layoffs would take place over the next six months.

It added these layoffs were a result of the introduction of a new leadership structure.

This structure is to be implemented following a strategic review of PETRONAS' business operating model.

It aims to achieve better business efficiency, resilience and sustainability amidst a challenging time for the oil and gas industry.

"The new structure – designed for a flatter, leaner and more efficient business operating model - is a part of deliberate, sequential measures that PETRONAS is undertaking to better navigate the organisation through tough external environments," the company explained in a statement.

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It added this structure marks the start of a total group-wide transformation geared towards making the company more resilient and focused to thrive both in the current and future industry landscapes.

"Consequently, this group-wide transformation is expected to result in redundancies of under 1,000 positions. Exhaustive efforts are on-going to re-deploy affected employees. PETRONAS will further embark on a separation exercise for these employees as needed, which is expected to be completed over the next six months," PETRONAS stated.

It added new appointments from within the organisation will take effect from 1 April 2016.

The company also made headlines last month when it reported a lower revenue and profit after tax (PAT) from operations in 2015, amidst a depressed oil price environment and net impairment on assets.

PETRONAS revealed it recorded a revenue of RM248 billion, a 25% decline compared to the same period in 2014.

"Its PAT and PAT excluding identified items were logged at RM21 billion and RM40 billion respectively, 56% and 42% lower than 2014," it stated.

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