Severance and Other Charges

We recognize severance and other charges for costs associated with workforce reductions, facility closures, exiting or reducing our footprint in certain countries, inventory impairment and the retirement of excess machinery and equipment based on economic utility. As a result of the downturn in the industry that began in 2015 and its impact on our business outlook, we continue to take actions to adjust our operations and cost structure to reflect current and expected activity levels. Depending on future market conditions, further actions may be necessary to adjust our operations, which may result in additional charges.

Our severance and other charges are summarized below (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Severance and other costs	$	2,697	$	16,525	$	35,484
Fixed asset retirements and abandonments	6,454		29,881		—
Inventory impairment	51,181		—		—
Accounts receivable write-offs	15,022		—		—
	$	75,354	$	46,406	$	35,484

Severance and other costs: During the year ended December 31, 2015, we incurred costs of $35.5 million due to executing a workforce reduction plan which included closing certain facilities and terminating leases. Also, the then Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors (who also held the role of Executive Chairman of our company) transitioned to a non-executive director of the supervisory board effective as of December 31, 2015. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we incurred $2.7 million and $16.5 million, respectively, due to a continued effort to adjust our workforce to meet the depressed demand in the industry.

Fixed asset retirements and abandonments: During the year ended December 31, 2016, we identified certain equipment that based on specifications and current market conditions no longer had economic utility and therefore had reached the end of its useful life. Accordingly, management decided to retire this equipment, which resulted in charges of $29.9 million. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we retired additional equipment prior to the end of its originally estimated useful lives, as well as abandoned capital projects, which resulted in a charge of $6.5 million.

Inventory impairment: As further discussed in Note 5 – Inventories, we determined the cost of our connector inventory exceeded its net realizable value, which resulted in a charge of $51.2 million.

Accounts receivable write-offs: We have experienced payment delays from certain customers in Nigeria, Angola and Venezuela. During the fourth quarter of 2017 management decided to significantly reduce our footprint in Nigeria and Angola and temporarily cease operations in Venezuela, which we believe will diminish our ability to collect amounts owed. As a result, we wrote off trade accounts receivable of $15.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2017.