Shell is to cut its workforce in the Netherlands by some 800 jobs, company sources told news agency ANP on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant said it will have cut 5,000 jobs, or some 5% of its total workforce, by the end of this year. The job cuts are part of the Transition 2009 revamp announced before the summer.
Shell employs 11,600 people in the Netherlands and over 100,000 worldwide. Most of the jobs being cut are in the Netherlands, UK and US, the source said.
The job losses are being concentrated at a managerial and operational level. Some 20% of higher management jobs are being cut and a further 15,000 workers have been told to reapply for their job or apply for a new one, the Financieele Dagblad quoted chief finance officer Simon Henry as saying.
Henry did not rule out further job cuts. ‘We will go on with cutting costs and making our organisation simpler and more efficient,’ he said.
Earnings
Also on Thursday, Shell said it booked net profit of €3bn in the third quarter of this year, based on the current cost of supplies. This is down 73% on the year-earlier period but better than analysts had expected.
‘Our third quarter results were affected by the weak global economy,’ CEO Peter Voser said in a statement. ‘We see some indications that energy demand and pricing are improving, but the outlook remains very uncertain, and we are not expecting a quick recovery.’
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