Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:49pm GMT
By Tom Bergin
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) may trim its workforce with a plan to leave vacancies unfilled and to “ruthlessly” review its use of contract staff, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
The email, sent by a senior executive in Shell’s core exploration and production division, told managers “the world has changed” after crude prices collapsed from over $147/barrel in July to around $40/bbl now.