By Trixie Yap
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp expects to cut the number of its employees in Singapore by 10% to 15% and move its office to the site of its Jurong plant from downtown by the end of 2027, in global restructuring efforts, the company said on Wednesday.
The plans for Exxon's Singapore operations come after the U.S. major announced on Tuesday it will lay off 2,000 workers globally, particularly in Canada and across the European Union, as part of a long-term restructuring plan that
will affect about 3% to 4% of the company's workforce.
"We are making changes to how we work so we can improve our competitiveness in an ever-evolving landscape and position the business for future success," Exxon Singapore said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the changes will reshape and restructure the primarily office-based organization.
"While detailed planning is still underway and organizational design is not yet complete, we anticipate this will result in estimated employee redundancies of 10%-15% by year-end 2027," it said.
Exxon now has about 3,500 employees in Singapore, so the expected cuts could hit up to 500 workers, although the company declined to give a firm number.
The company, which started this month production at new facilities at its Singapore refinery complex to produce base stocks from residue fuel, said it will continue to maintain its manufacturing presence in the city-state.
Exxon operates two refining sites in Singapore, one at Pioneer Road on the mainland and the other on Jurong Island, with a combined crude processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day.
As part of the change, Exxon plans to move employees based at its Harbour Front offices to the Jurong Refinery at Pioneer Road in new expanded facilities by year-end 2027, it said.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Writing by Florence Tan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Tom Hogue)
