Norwegian company Aker Solutions will cut capacity and more than 500 roles as it prepares for lower activity in 2026 compared with 2025.
The company expects the reduction to affect just over 500 of its 12000 permanent full-time positions, said chief executive officer Kjetel Digre.
He added that around 300 roles relate to the yard in Verdal, with remaining reductions spread across Norway and internationally.
Some locations will continue to see high activity in 2026, according to the company, but headcount cuts are needed as the market for new projects in oil and gas and renewables develops more slowly than expected.
“The industry has seen high activity in recent years as a result of the package of measures, adopted by the Norwegian parliament in 2020, intended to bridge the gap towards a growing renewable market, especially offshore wind,” said Digre.
“As this transition is taking longer than anticipated, we are now feeling the effects,” added Digre.
“We still see many opportunities both in Norway and internationally, but the anticipated activity level means we must take action now to ensure the company’s robustness and sound financial management,” said Digre.
“We are already seeing results from several improvement programs where new technology and smarter ways of working are reducing costs for our customers and thereby strengthening our competitiveness,” stated Digre.
“At the same time, we are developing our offerings in new areas, creating more opportunities to win additional work,” said Digre.
The adjustments will affect production, engineering and support roles through natural attrition and redundancies.
“The supplier industry is familiar with fluctuations, but processes involving significant restructuring and workforce reductions are still demanding,” said Digre.
“How we handle these changes will be greatly influenced by our consideration of the people affected,” added Digre.