The shrinking of the oil industry picked up speed this week after Halliburton Co. announced it’s cutting another 5,000 workers, or 8 percent of its remaining global workforce, to survive a lengthening crude market downturn.
The world’s second-largest oilfield services provider said last month it cut nearly 4,000 jobs in the final three months of 2015 and indicated more could come this quarter. With the latest layoffs, the Houston-based provider of drilling and hydraulic fracturing services will have let go nearly 29,000 workers, or more than a quarter of its headcount since staffing reached its peak in late 2014. Emily Mir, a spokeswoman, confirmed the additional cuts Thursday in an e-mailed statement.