(Xinhua) -- The management of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) is set to lay off about 2,500 of its workforce, who refused to cash in on the window of voluntary retirement at the end of last month. The Lagos-based This Day newspaper on Tuesday reported that more than 1,000 members of staff were either laid off or had voluntarily retired at the close of work on May 30.
It was learnt that the outstanding workforce of 5,000 prefer trying their luck on either being laid off or retained.
The state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) confirmed on Monday that a moratorium was placed on the exercise, but could not confirm if it had been lifted.
The retrenchment exercise is however not going down well with the NNPC, the joint venture partners of the Anglo Dutch company, as management had earlier claimed that it was not formally notified by Shell before the commencement of the exercise.
The NNPC had admitted that the Nigerian federal government was taken aback at the planned restructuring by Shell, expressing worry that transparency might be lost in the process if the exercise was actualized by the Anglo Dutch company.
The Managing Director of Shell, Mutiu Summonu, had earlier explained that the downsizing would save the company over 200 million U.S. dollars annually.