If the economy turns around, do you anticipate any Chevron layoffs? Any chatter, news or rumors?
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CEMREC re-organization / dissolution. It is my understanding that the DRB package has to be recycled.
Well said @5wja+1jUsnFBM solid voice of experience there.
Angola though I disagree, no career to me made there (unlike the past). It will just keep limping along on life support because no one will buy it due to the immense liabilities involved.
Recession = lowered demand = layoffs. Simple formula.
If you want to keep your job, move onto an asset team with a long future and low chance of being sold off (Permian, Australia, Tengiz, maybe Bangladesh although we already tried to sell once, Angola). Avoid exploration, smaller assets, marginal countries/BUs (DBU, GOM, Nigeria), those with a history of political problems (mideast, USSR, Latin America, California), high carbon intensity (heavy oil). Stay close to the well head but on the production side, not drilling (too variable). Or, really get with it and move into the Energy Transition group. They are going to be getting the funding and doing the cool stuff the next 10-30 years. Those on the ground floor there will be set if it actually goes anywhere. The next CEO will either be JG if he makes meaningful progress or NH if we give up and decide to just wind down O&G ops.
I've stuck it out and hung in there this long, no reason to quit now. Layoff's have always been just around the corner in O & G. If you don't like it, work somewhere else. Simple.
Well what exactly is currently on the table for all these workers? African assets are shrinking and there is nothing new on our table. West Texas was surprisingly successful given we started so late to the game but everyone knows that play is short lived. Australia will not get another train now that we proved we can’t reinject the CO2. Russia might shut down kurgastain and anyway it is basically past peak oil. Biden gave Chevron a bone in Venezuela but that’s not much. Thailand and Indonesia have dropped our licenses. Mediterranean and other unconventional are just a wish. GOM is probably also at peak, so now just maintenance staff are needed. What am I missing? Just liquidate and reinvest in Microsoft, given we seem to be in love with all that they do anyway.
It's never a bad time for layoffs with the current group of do-nothings that I have to deal with. The Axeman cometh any day now.
The layoffs ahppe. With the company profits lags the expenses and for our industry it is always correlated to the oil price. The sweet spot is somewhere between $70 to $85. Most companies make money above $60 [WTI].
When the price dips below $50, the managers start drafting different plans and depending in how low the prices go or how long the expected low prices last different layoff numbers are implemented, it is simply a way to cut costs when revenue is dismal and employees are always more cost than value, from the corporate poi t of view, the value is in the oil price not the employee.
I'm close enough to retirement that I stay in touch with some of the retired Boomers, they like to hear about the 'transformed' Chevron, I like to tap them for retirement advice. Here's what their collective memories say about @1bid's post:
Add in layoffs 2008 (admittedly a small number, more "housecleaning" than anything), 2002, 1996, 1992, 1987, 1982. All were due to low oil prices and/or a regional recession somewhere in the world that decreased demand. So if there's a US recession next year, you can count on another layoff round.
A couple of chuckles, one pointed out that the 2016/17 BU reorg rid MCBU of all its experienced staff, back when Chevron didn't put much stock in UCR. Another pointed out that 2016/17, and definitely 2020, was meant to entice all the Boomers to retire, Covid just amplified the 2020 numbers (people and package value).
Yes, I am also hoping that this JB recession turns around soon and the record inflation levels since the 70's ease a bit. Keep your fingers crossed. Some of us are still in the building up years and also have mouths to feed and homes to heat. Good luck to all, in any event. We all need a bit of luck with a horrendous economy like this.
MW cannot live without layoffs, he has been denied is fix since 2020 so called "transformation ". He has a couple of years left at the helm and he will need q least one more major main line layoff fix before departing....timing will be when he can't stand the withdrawal symptoms anymore...got to be soon
@OP Not sure what you mean by “when the economy turns around”. The economy grew last quarter and there hasn’t been a bad jobs report since 2020.
If you’re letting the writers at Fortune Magazine talk you into thinking a recession is imminent, snap out of it; it’s a trick being used by employers to reduce turnover and lower salaries.
To your question: if you’re working in O&G, expect layoffs at anytime and for no apparent reason. The good news is that the labor market is so tight that neither a recession nor layoffs will hurt workers much, if at all.
The only layoffs I have seen were -
1998 - $11/bbl oil
2016 - $33/bbl oil; 2 quarters of losses; BU re-org
2020 - $18/bbl oil ; 1 quarter of losses; pandemic; CTC re-org
There has been layoffs regularly across the board from the start in this bo-m-bust industry. The layoffs always seem so short sighted as one commonly departs with up to a year pay plus unemployment. By the time that’s up all the companies are hiring again. It makes no sense other than that managers need to feel like they are doing “something” during every little downturn. I was laid off twice during my career but it was never very painful as I have always spent less than half my salary, I have solid petrol tech skills, and was I was hired again before the layoff compensation disappeared. The key to happiness is to have enough money that you can depart for a long vacation directly after you are laid off and then return about a year later for the next bo-m (if you look for work right away you will just frustrate yourself because all the companies move in sync). Those that spend every penny they earn during a bo-m are generally the ones caught with their pants down during the busts. There is a old saying in this industry: “Lord let there be just one more bo-m as this time I will save something”. Learn from that and save now during this current bo-m!
Layoffs at Chevron are as regular as the sun rising in the east. Last one was 2020, we're due for another one soon. If there's a US recession, a layoff is guaranteed.
I’ve been with this company for two decades and on average have faced a layoff every four years. Every assignment with the exception of one I’ve faced a layoff.
Another one will come just as sure as the sun comes up and with it more management BS and catch phrases to justify it.
They love dropping a layoff at the least expected time!
I still believe that layoffs/cost-cutting can occur at any time so we should always be prepared for that.
With current prices we are still in frantic hiring mode in most locations. Expect that will continue. Great opportunities out there!
Nope, we shouldn’t need more layoffs since the last one set us up to “win in any environment”, right?