AT least 3,500 workers would be laid off in the ongoing re-organisation in the Dutch oil firm, Shell Petroleum Development Company, investigations by our correspondent has revealed.
Findings in the oil firm showed that the management had penciled down 3,500 workers for retrenchment in the exercise, which resumed last Monday.
Company sources said the downsizing was in response to drastic cuts in Shell output due to incessant attacks on its facilities.
The selection of the redundant workers, our correspondent gathered, would cut across SPDC�s pay roll staff, direct hire technical staff and the agency staff.
The three categories translated to a combined staff capacity of 8,000 in the company.
The pay roll staff, which constituted the pensionable workforce and those in DHCS category, whose services were not pensionable but enjoyed conditions of service close to the pay roll workers, accounted for about 6,000 of the staff strength of the company.
The agency staff, mainly casual workers hired from contractors, were about 2,000 in the company.
Investigations by our correspondent also showed that 2,000 of the pay roll staff and DHCS, representing about 35 per cent would be shown the way out of the company.
It was gathered that the agency staff would be worst hit in the exercise as about 1,500 of them had been declared redundant by the management of the Dutch oil multinational.
The exercise, which began last Monday would end on July 8, when the implementation of the new organisational structure would take effect.
A top member of SPDC�s management team told our correspondent on Sunday that the top hierarchy of the company�s Human Resources Department nominated staff for the exercise.
The source, who craved anonymity, however, stated that some workers volunteered to go following the offer of attractive severance packages and benefits by the management.
Meanwhile, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has claimed responsibility for Friday night attack on Shell�s Diebu Creek Flow Station at Peremabiri in Southern Ijaw local government of Bayelsa state.
The group claimed in a statement that a militant cell empowered by MEND carried out the attack to demonstrate its opposition to the injustice being foisted on the region.
MEND said the attack, which is part of the on-going �Operation Cyclone� to cripple Nigerian oil exports was prompted by the desire of the group to support smaller cells to fight injustice and to �let the oil companies know that the military gunboats and soldiers that guard their facilities were insignificant.�
MEND also stated that the attack was to dispel assurances of enduring peace by some �compromised� militants and to kick against the continued secret trial of its detained leader, Henry Okah.