Widespread redundancies in the mining and oil and gas sectors are starting to hit home in the resource-rich region of Western Australia's Pilbara.

Hundreds of jobs are being slashed across the industry, in the wake of falling commodity prices.

Mayor of Karratha Peter Long said he had noticed a sombre mood among residents.

Mr Long said it was no longer just construction workers being made redundant as projects move into the production phase, which had been expected, but operations staff as well.

"There are some friends of mine that have been here for a long time, 20 years plus, and they probably thought they were quite safe, and they have been made redundant," he said.

"I think even in the shopping centre you can tell people are just down in the dumps.

"People that have been here a long time have to leave town, I think they've been given two months and they've got to uproot themselves, take their children out of school and go somewhere else looking for a job.

"People are depressed, it's really tough."

Woodside cuts 300 jobs

Woodside Petroleum, which runs the Karratha Gas Plant and Pluto LNG Project in the City of Karratha, began cutting jobs this week.

In a statement the company said it completed a review of its operations to address a downturn in the commodities market, and 300 staff across the business in Perth and Karratha, would lose their jobs over the next couple of months.

Iron ore miner Rio Tinto, which has a strong presence across the Pilbara, including operations in Dampier and Cape Lambert near Wickham, is also slashing hundreds of staff across the division, but would not confirm exact numbers.

In a statement, the company said it was continuing to take action to ensure its business remained competitive and had been identifying opportunities to simplify and streamline the organisation.

"The figures I have been told [for Rio Tinto] is 800, over the period of a few months," Mr Long said.

"But that does seem to change a little bit, I am really not sure, and that 800 I think is across all of WA, it's not just around our neck of the woods.

"As a private company they have the right to do what they want to do, we can only express the feelings we are getting from the community."

Mr Long said the cuts would have an impact on the whole of the City of Karratha, which is made up of the towns of Karratha, Dampier, Wickham, Roebourne and Point Samson.

"We are a resource town and WA really is a resource state, so when the resource industry pulls back we all suffer," he said.

"It's the services people as well, it's not just government services but it's the shops and the cafes and the bars.

"It's certainly not going to be as buoyant as it was in the middle of the construction times, and it certainly won't be as good as when the oil price was $120 and the iron ore price was $180.

"But nevertheless we will still be here, we will just be going at a slightly slower rate."

Mr Long also said the city was gradually diversifying to help reduce its reliance on the main resource sector players.

Local businesses struggling

Karratha tyre business owner Brett Armstrong has been operating his own business for nine years.

"It's pretty bad for our region, it has put a big dent in the turnover and the employment in the area," he said.

"I noticed it around November last year. My staff have dropped by 50 per cent, which I have had to do to survive.

"Lots of people are leaving town.

Baynton West is one of Karratha's newer suburbs. It was built as a result of the housing shortage during the boom. ( Lucie Bell )

"I had eight [staff], and I am now down to four and the other four have all left town.

"It's not good at all, you come to town, you employ people thinking you are going to employ them long term and then all of a sudden you have to start laying people off, it's not a good feeling.

Mr Armstrong said his company's sales had "plummeted to the ground".

"I am not alone, every other business, every other tyre service is feeling the same thing," he said.

"I have seen it before but not as bad as this."

Karratha resident Pip Golden said a significant number of her friends had been affected by job losses in the town.

"A lot of people who lose their jobs also lose their housing, which puts them in a very precarious situation, so they opt to leave town and look for work elsewhere," she said.

"We were with people on Saturday and five of those people were leaving, not immediately, but within the next four to five months.

"It's not an easy time for a lot of people at the moment."

Rio Tinto town of Wickham 'hardest hit'

Mr Long said he thought the predominantly Rio Tinto town of Wickham would be hardest hit.

"I don't know how many are going in Wickham, Rio has just expanded Wickham, they built 200 new houses there and they have also been increasing their production," he said.

"I do expect though, there will be significant losses in Wickham because Wickham is the main Rio Tinto town now.

"I think the population of Dampier is now only about 20 per cent Rio Tinto employees and the rest are employed elsewhere, so Wickham will really feel it."

Mr Long said his thoughts were with those affected.

"We realise it's a tough time, our thoughts are with the families who are facing what's definitely an uncertain future," he said.

"We'd encourage all local residents to offer a hand or a shoulder.

"It's a number of years since we faced challenges like this but if we stick together we'll pull through in the end."