Laid off from Halliburton.

What Halliburton layoffs have meant for employees

If Halliburton let you go in 2025, you were part of a cut that rolled out over weeks and across divisions, and the company's own account of it came in filings and on an analyst call. Halliburton booked $107 million of severance in the first quarter of 2025, its second-quarter 2026 filing shows, months before two people directly involved in the layoffs spoke to Reuters. By October, CEO Jeff Miller was calling the moves "rightsizing our operations and overhead" on the earnings call. That's a hard way to lose a job, with the company's version written for investors. If you're comparing notes with former coworkers or filling out an unemployment claim, it's worth writing down your division, your last day and what you were told, while the details are fresh.

In three closings on record, Halliburton planned to carry the work on somewhere else. In the El Reno plan, most operations were headed to the Duncan field camp, and in 2020 the Elmendorf work went to Eagle Ford Shale camps and the Kilgore work to an office in Bossier City, Louisiana, according to Rigzone and the Houston Chronicle. If a closing notice comes with an offer, that history makes the offer worth reading closely. If you're offered a move, it's worth asking how long the work at the new location is expected to last, who covers the cost of getting there, and whether saying no would affect any severance.

Layoffs haven't been Halliburton's only lever. In 2020 it froze raises for the year and, while it kept matching 401(k) contributions, it dropped the year-end contribution it had made in the past, the Houston Chronicle reported, as executives took pay cuts. A furlough, a pay freeze and a dropped contribution each leave a different hole. If you're furloughed and told your health coverage continues, it's worth getting that in writing, since a gap during unpaid weeks would cost the most. If you're still there and a contribution you counted on is dropped, it's worth putting a number on it when you weigh your options, and if you leave with a 401(k), it's worth reading about rolling over a 401(k) before you move the money.

Texas, California and Oklahoma account for 34 of Halliburton's 39 filings in our WARN tracker, and 18 of the 39 date from 2020. The largest, 3,500 jobs at its North Sam Houston site in March 2020, carries the same count and date as the headquarters furlough the Houston Chronicle reported that day. A big number on a notice can be a furlough, so if you're reading the tracker for your own site, the date and the city tell you more than the count. If you worked out of Houston or a Texas camp, Texas unemployment benefits has the state's filing steps, and Oklahoma unemployment benefits does the same for Duncan and El Reno.

The 2025 cuts came from headcount being rationalized to align with activity levels, as Halliburton's third-quarter 10-Q puts it, and that framing is yours to use when a hiring manager asks what happened, alongside other ways of explaining a layoff. About 22% of its workforce had collective bargaining agreements as 2025 closed, its 2025 Form 10-K says, and if you were among them, it's worth checking whether your agreement addresses layoffs or recall. Some 6,400 people were hired in 2025, the same year as the cuts, so if you'd consider going back, it's fair to ask HR whether you'd be eligible for rehire. If you're weighing a severance offer, reading up on negotiating a severance agreement may help.

Your stock and equity

Halliburton's 2025 Form 10-K says restricted shares generally vest over five years, that shares still restricted when employment ends go back to the company, and that restrictions can also lapse for early retirement and other conditions under its policies. For 2025, its stock purchase plan let eligible employees put up to 10% of earnings toward shares bought each quarter at 90% of the lower of two prices.

A sourced history of Halliburton layoffs

• September 2025, cuts across divisions reported by Reuters

  Halliburton had been cutting staff for several weeks, two sources who were directly involved in the layoffs told Reuters, and at least three business divisions had lost 20% to 40% of their employees.

• 2025, severance charges as global headcount was rationalized

  Halliburton "rationalized global headcount to align with activity levels" and booked $169 million in severance in the third quarter alone, its third-quarter 10-Q says. The 2025 Form 10-K put the year at $299 million, against $63 million for 2024.

• May 2020, 1,000 laid off at Houston headquarters

  Halliburton laid off 1,000 people at its Houston headquarters, the Houston Chronicle reported, and the company said the cuts came on top of layoffs across its global operations.

• April and early May 2020, Oklahoma and Texas cuts

  Halliburton laid off 350 in Oklahoma, the Houston Chronicle reported, and closed its Elmendorf and Kilgore sites in Texas, cutting 384 and 233 jobs and moving the work to other field locations, a May 6 Chronicle report said.

• March 2020, 3,500 furloughed at the North Belt campus

  Halliburton announced a two-month furlough for about 3,500 employees at its North Belt headquarters campus, one week on and one off, unpaid for the weeks off but with health insurance kept, the Houston Chronicle reported.

• December 2019, El Reno camp closing after Rockies cuts

  Halliburton told Oklahoma it was closing its El Reno field camp, home to frac crews, and laying off 808, Rigzone reported, two months after cutting 650 in its Rockies region. A majority of employees were offered relocation.

• February 2016, about 5,000 more jobs, roughly 8%

  Halliburton would cut about 5,000 more jobs, roughly 8% of its workforce, spokeswoman Emily Mir told Reuters in a report Fortune carried. It had already cut headcount by almost 22,000 since 2014 and had about 65,000 people on staff when 2015 ended.

What to do if you're laid off from Halliburton

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Halliburton's biggest hubs: Texas, California, Oklahoma. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Halliburton's hub states run: Texas, California, Oklahoma, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.