Nickel West cuts 50 jobs
BHP Billiton has laid off about 50 workers at its Nickel West division over the past two weeks, following its failure to sell the struggling WA operation.
It is understood 36 workers were made redundant yesterday, and more than a dozen workers were put off last week.
It is believed the jobs were axed from administrative and support roles at Nickel West, including finance, human resources and a number of project management positions.
BHP took Nickel West off the auction block in November, after a long-running sale process failed to find a buyer at an acceptable price.
A spokesman for BHP said the company had been restructuring its workforce around its decision to run the business for cash.
"With a shorter time horizon than other BHP Billiton assets, Nickel West will focus on the key activities critical to safely and efficiently operating its existing assets to closure, while deriving the maximum value from its known reserves," he said.
