A gas station of Shell is seen in Samedan, Switzerland March 19, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann - RTSBN22

LONDON (Reuters) - Shell RDSa.L said it had started a voluntary severance process in the Netherlands as part of a plan to cut around 10,300 jobs worldwide.

The oil company is under pressure to rein in costs as a slump in oil prices has hit its profits.

“Shell can confirm it has introduced a selective voluntary severance programme in The Netherlands,” a spokesman said.

The programme could be rolled out elsewhere and staff would be notified before external announcements are made, he said.

Shell has around 11,000 directly employed staff in the Netherlands.

Shell said last year it would cut around 2,800 jobs as part of its $50 billion (34.76 billion pound) takeover of BG Group, feeding into the overall job reductions.