Andrew Forrest's Fortescue mining company has announced it is slashing 700 jobs while affirming its "resolute" commitment to its green technology vision.

In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Fortescue (FMG) said the restructure would ensure the Perth-based mining company remains "lean, impactful and agile."

"As part of this, approximately 700 people from across Fortescue's global operations will be offered redundancies, with that process to be finalised by the end of July 2024," the statement read.

The company said it remained committed to its green technology developments, and must evolve to deliver on its strategy, and generate maximum value for shareholders.

However, it said the company was "grateful for the contribution of all those impacted by these changes."

Forrest makes no mention of cuts

Executive chairman Andrew Forrest issued a separate statement shortly after, but did not mention the job cuts.

He said the company was "absolutely resolute" in its commitment to achieving its decarbonisation goals by 2030 and that "without change, improvement is impossible".

"Being a first mover isn't easy, but as we learnt 21 years ago, risk is always worth the reward," he said.

"Part of the reason Fortescue is the highest performing company on Australia's Stock Exchange is that we do things differently.

"We do not apologise for requesting people leave their corporate culture behind when they join us … nor will we apologise when we don't look like everyone else."

Fortescue has extensive iron ore operations in WA's Pilbara, and in 2022-23 exported 192 million tonnes of ore.

However, in recent years it has been focusing on the development of green hydrogen and the decarbonisation of its operations.

'Not seeing the full picture'

Some analysts have said the job losses showed the mining giant was slowing its push into green hydrogen or abandoning its ambitions altogether.

But resources analyst Tim Treadgold wasn't so sure.

"We're not seeing the full picture outside," he said.

"Whether it's related to iron ore and a troubling outlook with China construction slowing, or whether it's related to hydrogen, which is not developing or being developed as quickly as we had been promised, we don't know.

"It could just be a nice round 700 figure to lower the overall cost base. There's a lot more yet to be revealed.

"You've got Macquarie Bank out there at the moment with a great big 'sell' recommendation on Fortescue and a share price tip, which is close to half what the company is at the moment.

Mr Treadgold said iron ore remained the "engine room" for Fortescue.

"China is a big problem for Fortescue, it's a big problem for Australia and hydrogen is a peculiar problem for Fortescue because the world is just not ready for it yet," he said.

"To make a move like this and then wrap it all up in two weeks, either something serious has happened or the company is looking at the future and saying we need to pull our head in."