On Wednesday, in a statement Exxon Mobil Corp said, it has started a voluntary redundancy programme for its Australian employees, as means to mitigate the current predominant “unprecedented” market conditions.

The voluntary redundancy programme is being offered to all employees in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Gippsland, and Perth, said Exxon in a statement.

When asked to comment on the percentage of staff Exxon was aiming to trim, the oil giant’s spokesman in Australia declined comment.

The development comes in the wake of media reports in July saying the U.S. oil company was preparing to trim its employee roster as well as slash spending to preserve cash midst a looming multi-billion-dollar quarterly loss.