Canada’s Suncor Energy to cut up to 15% of jobs as pandemic crushes oil demand – sources

By Rod Nickel and Jeff Lewis

WINNIPEG, Manitoba/TORONTO (Reuters) – Suncor Energy , Canada’s second-biggest oil company, told employees on Friday it would cut its workforce by up to 15% over the next year and a half, and by 5% in the next six months, as pandemic travel restrictions crushed crude demand, two sources confirmed.

The sources did not have permission to speak publicly.

Dirk Tolman, chair of a Unifor union local representing Suncor workers, said Suncor Chief Executive Mark Little addressed employees and said the company would need to cut expenses because demand and the company’s stock had fallen.

Unions were not notified of any layoffs, suggesting the cuts would be among non-union staff, Tolman said.Suncor has about 10,000 employees, some 3,200 of whom are union members, he said.

“We can all see where the price of a barrel of oil is now,” Tolman said. “Every oil company in the country or the world is suffering. It gets people worried for sure.”

Calgary-based Suncor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and David Gregorio)