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CALGARY – Oil and gas companies laid off tens of thousands of people during the two-year-long collapse in crude prices and, a new study shows, some companies plan further reductions.

Ernst and Young and the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business conducted a survey of 72 Canadian oil and gas companies and asked, given all the staff cuts that have been made over the past couple of years, whether executives are considering further changes to their organizations.

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“Most are considering further changes in the future,” EY’s Canadian strategy services leader, oil and gas Lance Mortlock said in an interview. “Now, we’re seeing changes around, is there a better way of doing this? Is there a better way of organizing how we get work done?”

Mortlock said that companies reacted with layoffs to survive when crude oil prices began to fall in the second half of 2014 but are now considering “different ways that you can do work – better, faster, cheaper – with less people involved.”