Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., better known as CNRL, has announced salary cuts that will be applied across the board in a move to recover from low oil prices on the market right now. According to a company spokesperson every salaried employe at the energy company will be expected to take a pay cut that could be a maximum of 10%, and no employee will be exempt from this reduction. CNRL is struggling right now, trying to stay profitable and competitive without laying off employees or cutting positions. According to an email from company spokesperson Julie Woo “The salary reductions of up to 10% apply to all salaried employees across our operations, including at our Horizon Oil Sands operation.” The company currently employs around 7,500 employees.

CNRL spokesperson Woo did not give a complete break down of the CNRL salary cuts or offer an estimate on the amount of savings that this move could mean for the company. The idea is that even senior management officials like Steve Laut, the president and CEO of CNRL, will take the same percentage of salary cuts as lower placed salaried workers. Higher pay means that higher ranked management will see steeper reductions even though the same percentage of their pay will be deducted because these executives make more. According to Julie Woo “The challenges facing our industry are significant. These measures were taken in order to help the company address the current challenges without reducing our workforce.” Just last month the company was blaming the provincial government for corporate tax increases that also ate into the company profits.