Denti;
I went through a similar experience in the '90's when flying on the North Sea. A contract came up for renewal and the oil company concerned (Shell, now you come to mention it) were prepared to re-award so long as the price was cheaper than 5 years before.
We went through months of uncertainty, and like you I watched as highly experienced crews became very distracted and concentration on the job in hand was lost. There were incidents, luckily nothing major, but there was a feeling in the crew room that if the situation had gone on much longer then a major incident would have happened.
It was a huge relief to all when it was over and the redundancy notices had been handed out, all of us walked away glad that nothing had gone wrong and pleased that the guys we knew off shore were sorry to see us go.
It amazed me that a company who spouted safety as much as Shell could leave pilots and engineers under such stress for such a long time, it was almost cruel.
I worked there for another four years and walked the next time Shell started their usual antics.
SND