Thread regarding Halliburton Co. layoffs

The fact is, we all get old if we’re lucky. The mind doesn’t fail near as quick as the body. Your time will come with HAL, just wait and see. The Truth

You all are out of tour own minds. I don’t care about flying H’s our legacies. Ask Peyton Manning, John Elway, and Emmitt Smith about legacies. You may have been great at one point but we all have our day. So many complaints about age discrimination... but what have you done for me lately. If you’re as good today as you were in your prime at the time of lay-off then you can complain. Otherwise you’re delusional. You have a high price tag and you aren’t as good as you once were. Get over it. You’d be better suited to use the negative energy towards your next step than to keep complaining about how good you used to be and think you still are.

Energy markets are cyclical and volatile. Halliburton operates in a service industry and must hire employees to service new and growing markets. When those markets shrink or disappear then there is no longer need for the jobs many were hired to do. When a PSL is no longer making money, sometimes you have to take off a finger to save the hand. This is the case in every single oilfield service company. I'm sure there are a few circumstances where an employee was truly "done wrong" but most of the people on this board who take it personally and get mad seem to have the expectation that the oil service business could be "stable" if only management would do this or that. Perhaps some simply don't understand the industry and mistake a business model for malice. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

The guy telling everyone to quit is trying to stay employed. You all leave and he keeps his job.....

Consider this. Earl P’s wife would pawn her ring to make payroll.

Who could be saved without having Halacademy? Salary compressions for execs?

First time caller.
It seems that you never worked for Mr. Halliburton's Flying H Company.
If you had you would know that field employees are the ones that generate revenue.
All things do change but today's Halliburton is so out of touch with the employees who bring in the tickets do a good job on location. And they are the 1st to be walked out the gate..

First time caller. I almost believed you had some good points till you closed with 'This isn’t personal boys and girls. It’s business.'

It is personal when a lot of these decisions are based on age and time with the company and not on performance. Now, we will never be able to go into a court of law and prove our case. That's why they have their law department write the severance agreement and publish the list of all those considered for layoff along with their ages and positions. They actually try to maximize the percentage of older employees, without exceeding the threshold that could be a violation of law.

First time caller is the voice of reason!

Unpopular take of the day:

I’ve monitored this website for +/- 5 years because I’ve always been a curious or an anxious employee. That being said I’ve never said anything until today... I’ve got to say that I believe that 99% of the people who complain here are living in a world outside of reality. Each person complaining about layoffs is the best hand ever, Halliburton used to be different, CEO s—s, management is stupid, people don’t matter, Earl P is spinning in his grave. However I don’t think they don’t know the full story.

The reality is that I don’t believe most people understand how running a business works. It’s also a lack of transparency from the managers more than it is incompetence. The goal of a company is to make money. All of those pumps, all of those facilities, and yes all of those employees cost money. If all an employee sees everyday is the $100k ticket they get signed without the transparency of what costs are associated with that behind the scenes then I understand the disconnect. If there is x% profit on that one ticket but still doesn’t add to the contribution margin then guess what... you’re losing money. All we ever see as a field hand is the dollar value at the top line. It’s not very frequently (if ever) that we understand what that one ticket in fact does for the bottom line.

It’s no different than paying your own bills. There were recently two districts in the US that have been closed. In the last two months those two districts have lost a combined ~$50M. Now if this were your own finances and you lost money like that would you continue keeping your Netflix account, your Amazon Prime account, or your wife’s Roden + Fields subscription? The answer is no. Yes there is great people and employees that were and will continue to be impacted. However it’s not a sweeping decision to screw over each hardworking individual. It’s more about being a victim of circumstance. You just happened to be employed in a market that no longer supports its cost.

All I’m saying is that it is more than likely that what you perceive to be true is only one component of the picture. That doesn’t mean your hard feelings are wrong, but this is a business and it’s not for participation trophies. Changes must be made. John Doe in the pump shop is nice to have because he works so hard and I’ve had him for 10 years. Similarly I like my 10 year old Netflix account that nice to have because it works so well and it is convenient... but if you can’t afford it you can’t afford it. This isn’t personal boys and girls. It’s business.

BINGO! Well said

The problem with Halliburton is that management focuses on getting bigger rather than making smart financial decisions - it's poor execution of capital. Spend when the market is high and cut when it's low. The only thing is that by the time you're done growing, a downturn starts and now you undo all the work up to that point in time.

How about management making decisions that create an efficient use of human capital, with a focus on service quality, and on creating sustainable revenue streams.

Red is an appropriate color for the Company since it throws it's employees into a layoff bloodbath so frequently.

I guess the point to the posters with the negative ratings would be: We aren't being replaced by youngsters with a laptop. The youngsters are going to learn some hard lessons in the next few years. Probably expensive ones.

I agree with most of the things said here. Terrible culture and management. People doing the bare minimum. But don’t blame them for doing the bare minimum. It is the job of the manager to keep employees engaged and incentivized. I was a top performer for 5 years and then got a useless POS manager who had the social IQ of a c—roach. He lowered morale of the entire office until we all didn’t give a c-ap anymore. I became one of those guys who just didn’t care because my boss made my life miserable. But I did the bare minimum to keep my job. Thank god I’ve been keeping my options open and have been actively developing my future. When I got laid off I was nervous but happy nervous. I’m glad to ditch this garbage company and move on with my life.

Honestly, I don't think the age is a factor but it's the work mentality. Halliburton is full of people who milk the clock, lie about time, and talk behind people's back. I guess they have to pay for those Corvettes in the parking lot somehow. Most of the managers need social skills training. They fingerpoint, scold, and mistreat everyone for the sake of their bonuses. Halliburton has way too many managers who do nothing but attend meetings and demand product now. They need more machinists to help get product out the door and reduce overtime. I can say the company culture at Halliburton stinks also. I'm only staying here for 3 years to get my 401K vested and I'm out of this dump. Anyone who is thinking of retiring here will live in fear of being layed off for years to come.

It’s easy to bash people with words and comments, striking out hateful remarks isn’t a solution, but an immature anger issue. No person is beyond their prime, if they are adding to the good of the company, regardless of their age. There are incompetent older employees , as well as incompetent younger employees. No person should be allowed to work, if they’re not adding to the better of a company, it’s as simple as that. The real issue is simple enough, the company is overwhelmed with BME( Bare Minimum Employee). These are people who come to work, and do just the bare minimum to get by. They don’t care if others carry their weight, and that goes from the cleaning crew to upper management . Evaluate yourself , do you perform your best , or do you do just enough to get by? As for everything done by a laptop and efficiency , that’s a interesting remark in its own. I’ve never seen a well site put together without man power, sweating , tripping pipe, moving equipment , and completing a well, all by technology and efficiency . It’s done by people who refuse to be a BME, and they’ve been around for years.

What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end for the old manual way of doing things. Technology and efficiency is the future and some of you old timers can’t take that truth. You reaped the benefits of being overpaid for decades and now that the company realizes they can replace you with someone with a college degree running a tool via a computer you don’t like it. Go retire like you should have in 2009 instead of stealing from the company for another 10 years. That is the reality of what a lot of these layoffs are. Cleaning house of the bloated salaries from people that should have retired a decade ago. There’s just a little collateral damage included so you fools can’t sue for age discrimination.

Been their twice laid off in '2009 as a directional not at Halliburton than again laid off in '2016 from Halliburton. It's hard on the family stay strong. Doors close and new ones open. No need to hate on those that stay behind. I worked for Halliburton four and half years and my experience was good. It's a business that needed to make these cuts for it to survive.

Speaking from the ex-Sperry perspective, if you didn't see the writing on the wall, that's too bad. Even those that stayed on after the failed merger and slump...we didn't forget how big brother treated us during that period. Loyalty, pffft, I know what that means to Halliburton. We had to swallow pride and see VP after VP be put in charge of Sperry while only working on their personal agenda to advance in Halliburton corporate. I've seen them work on technology projects doomed from the start; why are we still working on them? Doesn't do any good to have Life Cycle rules if the management doesn't follow them or bypasses them.

So now, we have two accountants running the show, looking at numbers, they're decreasing headcount. Great job with making the statement of 'It's a stark reality' Stark reality is being on the rig floor in freezing bad weather doing a good job despite the pain you cause. Sperry will never shine again until Corporate stops putting their coddled golden 'boys' in power. Put a leader that goes beyond stating a motto like 'we collaborate BS' and turn some the promises to the customer into reality.

Signed – Sperry-Sun Drilling Services

That’s part of the problem too. All the old farts staying on past when they should have left. Newsflash, you reaped the benefits for 30-40 years. It’s now your time to go out to pasture, do it with dignity. Let those of us with kids keep our jobs instead of padding your 401k.

All the old timers are hanging onto Halliburton's nipples until retirement. They are on their knees every night hoping they don't get laid off. Poor old saps.

I dont see what the big deal is. People will deal with the exact level of treatment to which they can accept. Son of you sound like you have battered employee syndrome. Daddy Miller must make it up to you... just enough every couple of weeks.

What do you tell the Halliburton employee that rehired after they were RIF'ed??

Nothing they didn't listen the first time.

I see alot people at my plant with fear in their eyes. The uncertainty of not having a job this month or the next. Everyone is quiet and staying under the radar. The axe is coming.

The poster is part of the problem with Halliburton. Some of us have known about these issues since and have been complaining even when oil prices were high. Field hands have always been treated poorly. All of a sudden, office guys now have a voice because you and your colleagues are getting laid off. When the field hands were being laid off, it was business as usual. Now you complain!!. Please stop it. Halliburton is the best company on earth. Deal with it.

Don't worry... HDFX will solve all our technical problems and lack of expertise since we laid off the most experienced employees... LOLOLOOOLOOOOL