Labor Market
Halliburton recorded $107 million in severance costs in the third quarter “associated with the rationalization of our global headcount,” the oilfield services company disclosed in its earnings release on Tuesday, Oct. 20. The charge came as the company’s North America revenue fell 5% from the prior quarter on lower pressure pumping work in U.S. land basins.
The release does not say how many positions were eliminated, in which countries or business lines the cuts fell, or whether they are complete. The $107 million is an accounting charge for severance, not a count of workers, and it should not be read as a measure of how many people lost jobs.
The charge in context
Halliburton booked a total pre-tax charge of $107 million for impairments and other items in the quarter. Besides severance, it included $25 million of inventory costs and write-downs and $14 million of fixed and other asset write-offs, partly offset by a $36 million gain from selling part of its stake in an equity investment.
The company recorded no severance in the second quarter of 2026, so the third-quarter charge accounts for all of its $107 million in severance for the first nine months of the year. That is below last year’s pace: Halliburton recorded $169 million of severance in the third quarter of 2025 and $276 million in the first nine months of 2025.
Where the business is shrinking and growing
Total revenue was $5.7 billion, essentially flat from the second quarter and up from $5.6 billion a year earlier. North America revenue was $2.16 billion, down from $2.28 billion in the second quarter and $2.36 billion in the third quarter of 2025, a year-over-year decline of about 9%. The company attributed the sequential drop primarily to lower pressure pumping services in U.S. Land. Pressure pumping includes hydraulic fracturing.
International revenue rose 3% from the second quarter to $3.5 billion. Middle East/Asia revenue climbed 8% to $1.4 billion on higher activity in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while Latin America and Europe/Africa were flat at about $1.1 billion and $1.0 billion.
By segment, Completion and Production revenue fell 4%, or $113 million, to $3.1 billion, which Halliburton attributed mainly to lower stimulation activity in the Western Hemisphere. Drilling and Evaluation revenue rose 4% to $2.6 billion.
Net income was $417 million, or 50 cents a share, down from $534 million, or 64 cents, in the second quarter. Excluding impairments, other charges and tax adjustments, adjusted net income rose to $501 million, or 60 cents a share, from $461 million. Capital expenditures were $266 million in the quarter, and the company repurchased about $250 million of stock.
Outlook keeps North America flat
Chief Executive Jeff Miller said the company expects mid-single-digit revenue growth and operating margins of about 15% in 2027, based on an early outlook. “This outlook assumes a flat North America market and does not require any recovery in North America hydraulic fracturing,” Miller said in the release.
That framing matters for oilfield workers. A forecast of growth driven by international markets, paired with a flat North America assumption and a severance charge, does not point to a near-term rebound in U.S. land hiring at the company. The release gives no plan to add or restore positions.
The broader industry picture
Federal payroll data show oilfield employment roughly level nationally. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that support activities for mining, the industry that includes oilfield service contractors, employed 263,200 people in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 264,500 in August and up from 262,100 a year earlier. Oil and gas extraction employment was 114,100, compared with 115,900 in September 2025. The September figures are preliminary and are not Halliburton-specific.
Halliburton scheduled a conference call on the results for 9 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday. Until the company discloses more, the size and location of the headcount reduction remain unknown.
Sources
- Halliburton Company, “Halliburton Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results” (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1), October 20, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000045012/000004501226000070/livemastererdocument.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail – 2026 M09 Results,” October 2, 2026. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm
Featured photo: Halliburton pressure-pumping trucks and high-pressure iron at a hydraulic fracturing job in the Bakken oil field, Aug. 9, 2011. File photo; not tied to the company’s third-quarter 2026 results. Photo: Joshua Doubek, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Cropped from the original.
