(Reuters) - Job cuts at oilfield service providers Halliburton Co (>> Halliburton Company) and Baker Hughes Inc (>> Baker Hughes Incorporated) have turned out to be steeper than expected as crude prices hold below $50 levels, a 40 percent drop from June last year.

Halliburton Co (>> Halliburton Company), which is buying Baker Hughes in a $35 billion deal, is slashing 14,000 jobs. Baker Hughes plans to cut about 13,000 jobs worldwide.

Halliburton said in April it would cut 9,000 jobs, while Baker Hughes said it planned to reduce 10,500 jobs.

Demand for oilfield services has been hit as oil producers have trimmed their budgets and lowered the number of rigs they planned to deploy this year.

Schlumberger, the world's No.1 oilfield services provider, said earlier in July that the company expects little improvement in pricing levels in the near future.

Houston-based Schlumberger said in April that it would cut 11,000 jobs, bringing the total job cuts announced this year to 20,000, or about 15 percent of its workforce.

Oil producers have also cut thousands of jobs.

Royal Dutch Shell said on July 30 it would cut 6,500 jobs this year, or about 7 percent of its global workforce.

Chevron Corp (>> Chevron Corporation), the second-largest U.S. oil company, said on July 28 it would lay off 1,500 employees, or about 2 percent of its global workforce.

(Bengaluru Newsroom; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Don Sebastian)