Oil and gas giant Husky Energy on Tuesday laid off what some staffers are saying was hundreds of Calgary employees amid continuing doldrums in Canada’s oil patch.
According to the Calgary Herald, a number of staffers could be seen leaving the company’s 8th Avenue S.W. office tower to a lineup of waiting taxis, clutching paperwork suggesting they’ve been let go.
A company spokeswoman confirmed the layoffs but wouldn’t say how many employees have been affected.
“Today we did have to say goodbye to some of our colleagues,” Kim Guttormson said in a statement. “Husky has been taking steps to better align the organization and workforce with our capital plan and strategy.”
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She said the move was made to help ensure the company can “achieve its goals.”
“This was about changing the way we approach our business, the way we make decisions and the way we work together to meet our goals,” Guttormson told the Calgary Herald.
One employee who survived the cuts said hundreds of employees, including dozens of close co-workers, were laid off quickly and escorted outside.
“There were meeting rooms on 40 floors to break the news to people,” the staffer told the Herald, who wouldn’t provide a name. “It was fast, they didn’t mess around and they had extra security. . . the lineups (of those being laid off) were so massive, you couldn’t get a coffee.”
The staffer said the sensation of working for a politically beleaguered industry, particularly after Monday’s federal election, is strong among Husky employees.
Husky shares have plummeted by 80 per cent since a 2008 peak, widely attributed to slumping oil prices, a suspension in dividends and an abortive $2.75-billion hostile takeover of MEG Energy Corp.
(Calgary Herald)
