Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has created a voluntary termination program, open to all employees regardless of age and tenure, in an effort to “optimize productivity and reduce costs,” the Brazilian state-owned firm said.
Petrobras currently has about 12,000 employees who meet retirement conditions. The registration period runs from April to August.
The first edition the program was launched in January 2014 and resulted in 6,254 voluntary terminations. Petrobras currently has 57,046 employees.
The company earlier this year reported plans to cut capital expenditures for 2015-19 by $32 billion from the previously reported amount to $98.4 billion (OGJ Online, Jan. 13, 2016).
Also part of the cuts, the firm’s new governance and organizational management model involves a 43% reduction—up from the previously reported 30%—in 5,300 administrative posts in nonoperational areas (OGJ Online, Feb. 1, 2016). That initiative is expected to result in a cost reduction of about $442 million/year in the company’s 2015-19 business plan.