BP freezes pay of 84,000 staff

84,000 BP staff around the world have had their pay frozen as the firm responds to the plunge in oil price, which has more than halved in the past six months.

BP is just one firm among a list of major companies who have responded to the price fall. Shell, Premier Oil and Norway’s Statoil have already taken steps to cut costs with projects being postponed and contractors’ pay cut.

Just a few weeks after 300 jobs in Aberdeen were cut, the oil company’s boss, Bob Dudley, released a memo to its entire staff clarifying the decision to hold salaries at last year’s levels due to the harsh trading environment. According to Reuters to memo read: “The tougher external environment in 2015 means that our businesses and functions need to work to take a number of measures in response to the harsh trading environment.