Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company that was forced to cancel a $25bn merger with Halliburton earlier this year, has instituted 5% temporary pay cuts for its staff from now until at least the end of the year, says the Houston Chronicle.
The Houston-based firm says the measure is needed to forestall layoffs as it continues to cope with the low price of oil and its knock-on effects.
Staff will be given furloughs, effectively paid leave of absence, on four days between now and December 28 as a form of compensation.
In the past 18 months the company has slimmed down its payroll by 26,000 personnel, some through layoffs some through natural wastage.
Its planned merger with Halliburton, which would have combined the world’s second and third biggest oilfield services companies, was called off after the US Department of Justice threatened to challenge it on anti-trust grounds.
