US Economy - airline industry: United Airlines to cut 16,370 jobs as the pandemic rages

Chicago-based United had over 90,000 employees before the pandemic brought the industry to a near standstill in March and had warned in July that 36,000 jobs were at risk of involuntary furloughs as demand remains weak. 

Read more at: 
United Airlines to cut 16,370 jobs as the pandemic rages - Reuters

Coronavirus: Plane-maker Airbus furloughs 3,200 staff

 In a letter to workers Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said the firm's existence was now threatened.

Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52436741

US ECONOMY: COVID-19 job cuts: Layoffs accelerate as coronavirus disrupts economy

The American economy is bracing for a wave of layoffs due to the coronavirus, as airlines, hotels, restaurants and others suffer.

Read more at:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/17/covid-19-job-cuts-layoffs-coronavirus-economy/5068695002/

Germany: Deutsche Bank could cut workforce by 25 percent

Deutsche Bank is considering shedding almost a quarter of its global workforce as it looks to honour pledges to cut costs and streamline its operations.

Some 8,000 jobs could be cut, while the bank has already announced plans to hive off its consumer division PostBank which employs another 15,000 people.

It’s thought that the cuts would mostly affect administrative and technology posts.

Preliminary details of the plan were presented to supervisory board members at the weekend by CEO John Cryan, who took control of Germany’s biggest bank in July promising to tackle what he described as Deutsche Bank’s “swollen” cost base.

Read more: Deutsche Bank could cut workforce by 25 percent | euronews, economy

Oil Price: Shell plans for 'prolonged downturn' in oil prices (will layoff 6,500 workers) - by Holly Ellyatt

Royal Dutch Shell warned on Thursday that lower oil prices could continue for several years, and said it was planning for a prolonged downturn.

It comes as the Anglo–Dutch multinational reported that earnings in the second quarter, on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, came in at $3.4 billion - down from $5.1 billion for the same quarter a year ago. CCS is a way of reporting income that takes into account changes in expenses over the period.

hell also revealed plans to further reduce 2015 capital expenditure (capex) to $30 billion, down by 20 percent from a year ago on the back of a downturn in oil prices, and said it planned to cut 6,500 jobs over the year.

CEO Ben van Beurden said that the company was successfully "reducing our capital spending and operating costs, and delivering a competitive performance in today's oil market downturn."

"We have to be resilient in a world where oil prices remain low for some time, whilst keeping an eye on recovery.

Note EU-Digest : Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday that its profit fell sharply in the second quarter as a strong performance in marketing and refining failed to offset the brunt of lower oil and gas prices.

The oil giant also said it would cut its capital investment and eliminate 6,500 jobs as the drop in oil and gas prices squeezes its vast global exploration and production operations.

The company, based in The Hague, said earnings adjusted for inventory changes and excluding one-time items were $3.8 billion, compared with $6.1 billion in the same period in 2014.

Ben van Beurden, the company’s chief executive, justified Shell’s plans for exploratory drilling in Arctic waters off Alaska this summer, despite strong opposition from environmental groups, citing the potential to catapult company reserves. 

He said that the oil field “has the potential to be multiple times larger than the largest prospects in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, so it’s huge.”

Read more: Shell plans for 'prolonged downturn' in oil prices

Belgium: GM Closes Antwerpen Plant - 2600 workers without a job

GM is closing its Antwerpen plant in Belgium and  this move will cost 2600 workers their job.

In response to the slowdown in the European car market, Opel is trying to reduce capacity by about 20%.

The car market in Western Europe in 2010 is expected to be 1.5 million vehicles below 2009 levels and nearly 4 million below peak sales in 2007, GM said.

"It is not expected to return anytime soon -- if ever -- to these peak levels, resulting in significant overcapacity in general and at Opel in particular," the company said in a statement.

For more: GM will close Opel plant in Antwerp - MarketWatch