Half a million jobs to be cut globally! Check out which cos are slashing jobs

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Even as unemployment rate in Eurozone fell to a 4-year low in December and is still lingering at 5 percent in the US, various companies across the globe are slashing jobs in hundreds and thousands.

These cutting of jobs have been done mainly on bad or low quarterly/annually profits thus leading to cost-cutting act.

We give a list of some of the major companies of the world that are cutting jobs.

• BP: Britain's leading energy company BP to cut upto 7,000 jobs by 2017, i.e. 4,000 jobs in 2016 and up to 3,000 by the end of 2017.

• Standard Chartered: The Asia-focused British bank said it would axe 15,000 jobs and raise USD 5.1 billion in capital after posting a "disappointing" third-quarter loss as it struggles to return to growth.

• Yahoo: With investors calling for Marissa Mayer to be removed, the CEO is laying out a cost-cutting plan which includes chopping 15 percent of the work force which is an estimate 1,600 positions.

• Ford: Though no exact number was given, US auto giant Ford plans to cut hundreds of jobs in Europe in a bid to strengthen profitability in the region.

• Barclays: As per reports, the British bank plans to lay off about 1,000 jobs worldwide.

• Tata Steel: One of the world's largest steel maker, Tata Steel plans to lay of 1,050 jobs in Britain.

• Lloyds Banking Group: The company is cutting 1,755 jobs and closing 29 branches as part of a plan by its chief executive, António Horta-Osório, to cut costs as he prepares the bank for privatisation.

• France's Vallourec SA: The maker of high-strength steel for the oil sector will axe more than 2,500 jobs - 2,150 positions in Europe and another 500 in other countries, mainly in Brazil.

• British Gas: As the gas company tries to reduce its costs, it plans to to cut 500 jobs primarily in its energy efficiency business.

• DuPont: The company's cost-cutting plan includes 10 percent reduction of its workforce of about 54,000 employees, as per reports.

• Sprint Corp.: America's fourth-largest wireless carrier is eliminating 2,500 jobs, or about 7 percent of its total workforce, and closing several call centers as part of a plan to cut $2.5 billion in costs.

• Sanofi: The French drugmaker is considering the launch of a voluntary early retirement plan in France that could lead to around 600 job cuts over three years, the company said.

• Alpha Natural Resources: The US company plans to lay off 831 miners and dozens more support staff in southern West Virginia as a result of the downturn in the coal industry.

• China steel industry: An estimated 400,000 steelworkers in China will lose their jobs, in line with the country's plans to slash crude steel production capacity by between 100 million and 150 million tons.