FMC Technologies Restructuring Results in 1,000 Layoffs Worldwide

HOUSTON, TX -- Restructuring at Houston-based FMC Technologies Inc. has resulted in 1,000 employees being laid off during third quarter 2016, according to Rigzone

The company’s employee headcount now stands at 14,500 for this year’s third quarter, which is down from 15,500 in this year’s second quarter.

Those third quarter layoffs included 175 layoffs at FMC’s corporate headquarters in Houston, Lisa Adams, head of corporate public relations and digital communications, told Rigzone.

The cuts are not a result of the planned merge with Technip, but is a tactic the company hopes will put them in a more favorable position when the industry eventually rebounds.

The company also cut jobs last year.

In February 2015, FMC said it planned to cut about 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its company-wide workforce at the time.

The cuts in 2015 focused on land surface business and in North America, and by July 2015, executives said those reductions were mostly complete, but an unspecified number of jobs could still be cut.

Meanwhile, in May, the two oilfield service companies announced their plans to merge to cut costs to weather the oil price downturn.

On Thursday, the4 company reported that third quarter earnings were down 29 percent from this time last year.

However, the company’s Subsea Technologies division achieved further improvement in segment
operating margins, with third quarter results reaching the highest levels the company has recorded this year, said Doug Pferdehirt, president and CEO of FMC Technologies, in an Oct. 19 press statement.

“The strong performance results from solid project execution, combined with the benefits of our cost reduction actions that continued in the quarter,” said Pferdehirt in the statement.

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