The British oil giant told employees in a memo Thursday that it would slash around 4,700 jobs this year. The company also said it was cutting 3,000 contractor roles and that 2,600 of those contractors had already departed.

Confirming the job losses, the FTSE 100 company said the reduction in its workforce was down to cost cutting measures.

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Petroleum giant British Petroleum will cut 4,700 jobs this year in a cost cutting measure, the company announced Thursday. That amounts to about 5% of its total workforce.

U.K.-based oil company is cutting 4,700 jobs worldwide and a further 3,000 contractor roles as part of a cost-saving drive.

BP, which employs around 4,000 in Houston, will eliminate thousands of roles to cut costs, according to reports from Associated Press and Wall Street Journal.

The company employs 90,000 people worldwide and the internal job cuts represent around 5% of its workforce.

After a difficult fourth quarter in which production and prices fell, oil major BP reportedly is cutting thousands of jobs.