Oilfield service giant Schlumberger grew its global headcount in 2019 despite finishing the year with a $10.1 billion loss and laying off 1,400 workers in the United States.
Source: Houston Chronicle
In a Wednesday morning filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Schlumberger reported that the company had 105,000 employees at the end of 2019. The figure marks a 5 percent increase over the 100,000 worldwide employees the company reported at the end of 2018.
The new headcount was released less than a week after the company reported closing 2019 with a $10.1 billion loss. Most of that loss came from writing down the value of two past acquisitions but the company laid off 1,400 employees in North America as part of cost-cutting measure to restore profitability to its U.S. shale operations, which took a hit amid $50 per barrel crude oil prices that made horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing uneconomic for most producers.
Despite the setbacks on U.S. shale, Schlumberger grew its international and offshore business, which accounted for two-thirds of the company’s $32.9 billion of revenue in 2019.
Revenue from the company’s international business grew by 7 percent in 2019 while revenue from North America shrank by 10 percent.
Schlumberger also appears to have grown its geographic footprint in 2019. The company reports that it now receives revenue from operations in 120 nations. The company previously reported that its employees worked in 85 nations.
Employee demographics were not immediately available but in a March 2019 investors presentation, the company reported that millennials now make up 55 percent of the company’s global workforce.
