Norwegian offshore vessel operator Island offshore says it will be reducing working hours for its shoreside employees to avoid layoffs amid the severely weakened offshore market.

Island Offshore will reduce working hours by 10% for all office employees in Ulsteinvik, Norway beginning August 1, 2015. The company says the reduced hours are to mitigate the implications of the weak offshore market, lay up of vessels as well as postponed new building deliveries, and was chosen collectively to avoid layoffs and dismissals.

“It is important to us to stand together in this. This way we also retain the significant competence we have built up over time. We know that we are asking for a lot of our employees, hence it is very nice to see that everyone support this solution,” says Håvard Ulstein, managing director of Island Offshore Management AS.

Island Offshore says the arrangement will be continuously assessed in light of the market situation.