Weir Group to cut 400 more jobs as oil downturn bites

GLASGOW-BASED engineer Weir Group’s chief executive Keith Cochrane disclosed yesterday that the company is to shed 400 more jobs amid the downturn in the oil and gas industry.

Weir Group chief executive Keith Cochrane

It follows the group axing almost 900 posts earlier this year at its North American ­energy division – a third of the operation’s total.

A Weir spokesman said yesterday that the “vast majority” of the latest layoffs would be in North America, Africa and China, and was meant to deliver cost-savings of £25 million a year. The group employs 15,000 people globally, including about 600 in Scotland.

In a third quarter trading update, Cochrane said the business expected trading conditions to “remain challenging” through Q4.

However, he added that Weir anticipated “a sequential improvement in our ­second-half performance”, with its full-year earnings expectations broadly in line with market consensus.