The mining house is yet to comment on the matter which was raised by multiple unnamed sources.

"I can confirm that at group level there are major job cuts brewing," one source close to the company said, according to Reuters.

A second source reportedly said: "They are considering a headcount cut of about 20% at group level and further restructuring through all divisions."

If the speculation is well founded then cuts will surely hit Anglo’s Australian coal operations. Not only is cost cutting rife in this industry as coal prices continue a severe downturn but Anglo’s CEO Mark Cutifani is an Australian who will know what cuts to make.

Analysts have already flagged that Anglo will fall short of its targeted $US3-4 billion ($A4-5.3 billion) of proceeds from asset disposals in the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years.

“In our view, Anglo will struggle to realise book value for its slated disposals in 2015/16 and we expect it to fall short of its $3-4 billion target.” JP Morgan said in a client note last month.

It did not expect any possible “hidden value” to emerge from a South32-like breakup scenario for Anglo assets either.

“In the case of the platinum assets, which are critical to the credibility of the broader restructuring strategy, a sale or spin-out is complicated by these assets being cash loss making at current platinum-group metals prices and the resistance of labour unions to operational restructuring,” JP Morgan said.

In January Anglo confirmed its portfolio was under review in response to press speculation that it aimed to sell four Australian coal mines under a $3 billion divestment plan.

At the time, London’s Financial Times claimed that Anglo’s Dawson and Foxleigh mines in Queensland were being primed for a possible sale, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch involved in the process.

In December, Anglo revealed plans to sell the power station-feeding Callide open cut coal mine in Queensland and the closed Dartbrook underground coal mine in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales – taking the potential sales pool to four mines.

There has been no news of any progress on these fronts since. Other assets under divestment speculation include Anglo’s 50% stake of UK building materials company Lafarge-Tarmac, the South African Eskom coal mines, the Rustenburg and Union platinum mines, the Mantos Blancos and Mantoverde Chilean copper mines and the Kimberley diamond mines.

The diversified mining house employs an estimated 151,200 staff globally.