Woodside eyes competitiveness in move to shift 50 Karratha employees to Perth

Woodside will slash its residential Karratha workforce by nearly 10 per cent at the end of the year in a move aimed at competitiveness and extending the life of its Pilbara operations. The WA-based oil and gas company confirmed on Tuesday morning about 50 staff and their families would be relocated from Karratha to Perth between December 2021 and February 2022. The new roles will be residential in Perth, not fly-in, fly-out. A Woodside spokesperson said the company was currently consulting employees on the relocation. “We’re working together with our Karratha workforce on an organisational change that we’ve identified is required to stay competitive and extend the life of our operations,” the spokesperson said. “Our aim is to ensure a consistent way of working across our assets, drive efficiencies and position Karratha Gas Plant for future success as a tolling facility of third-party gas. “Our future operating model will maintain an operations and execution focus on site – and predominantly residential – with preparation, planning and strategic roles that support KGP located in Perth.” Woodside currently has about 560 residential employees in Karratha, an increase of more than 100 since 2018. The spokesperson said about 90 per cent of the Karratha Gas Plant workforce would be residential in Karratha under the company’s future operating model.