By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 7: Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) will implement a general freeze on hiring activities until December 2026, with exceptions made for selected business-critical roles to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The move is part of efforts to facilitate a workforce reduction as the company undergoes a broad organisational transformation.
According to PETRONAS president and Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz, the hiring freeze forms part of a transformation strategy to reposition the national oil and gas company into a more agile, integrated, and future-ready energy player.
In the face of complex global and domestic challenges, PETRONAS is undertaking a comprehensive review of its operations — including assets, processes, expenditures, and workforce — to ensure long-term competitiveness, sustainability and future readiness.
The enterprise-wide workforce assessment aims to align the organisation with its strategic direction to deliver greater value. As part of this effort, an estimated 10 per cent reduction of the total workforce is anticipated.
“We acknowledge that this process may result in difficult but necessary workforce adjustments. PETRONAS is striving to complete the notification process to those affected staff in stages until end of this year,” he said in a media release issued yesterday (June 6).
Muhammad Taufik emphasised that PETRONAS remains fully committed to handling the process with transparency, care, and respect for all impacted employees.
Describing the transformation as a “fundamental shift”, he said the review is crucial to ensuring PETRONAS can remain competitive and drive future growth in an increasingly challenging market environment.
“The transformation is envisioned to better position PETRONAS to ensure its relevance amid a challenging energy transition, strengthens its resilience, and allow it to accelerate growth through targeted investments—while building a more value-centric and agile workforce,” he added. — DayakDaily
