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Nearly one-in-five Canadian oil and gas companies says it may have to cut staff as commodity prices slide, according to a survey published Monday by Mercer LLC, a human resource consultancy.

One-in-four Canadian companies said they won’t be “buying” as much new talent from outside their organization, while one in six plans to freeze or cut compensation. A third of the companies said it was “too early to tell” whether the price decline will impact their operations.

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Mercer surveyed 154 companies in North America, including 97 based in Canada, between Dec. 11 and Jan. 15, on the impact of falling prices on hiring intentions.

Canadian companies are only “modestly” more pessimistic than their counterparts in the United States and Mexico, said Graham Dodd, principal at Mercer, but the overall North American outlook remains subdued.