“As we welcome our new leadership team, we will sadly be saying farewell to many friends and colleagues,” Looney wrote in the memo, which was also disclosed to the media.

On February 12, newly-appointed Looney announced that BP’s upstream and downstream businesses would be replaced by 11 teams that would be more focused and integrated. The reorganization is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

The new structure will make the company smaller and nimbler, Looney said, without specifying where any cuts would fall.

Some of the new appointments have been made to eliminate overlapping roles. For example, David Lawler, who serves as the head of U.S. business BPX Energy, will also take on Susan Dio’s role as country chair when she retires.

Turmoil in the oil markets has prompted other companies to make changes as they cope with disruption to demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is offering voluntary redundancies, among other measures, in a bid to make the company leaner, according to people with knowledge of the matter. U.S. firms Chevron Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. are among others laying off employees.

Looney said that he would provide more information on the company’s jobs plan in June. The Irishman promised staff at the end of March that their positions would be safe for three months, as the company considered ways to deal with falling oil prices.